On October 26, 2012, Joshua Starr, a.k.a the "Equity Warrior," charged the taxpayers for a breakfast buffet at the Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach, FL.
According to the receipt, he had the "American Buffet." Here's how the Fontainbleau describes the "Vida:"
MODERN. ENERGETIC. SAVORY.
An American Brasserie, Vida captures the essence of Fontainebleau's glamorous culinary past. Continental comfort cuisine combines with the relaxed, modern flavors of robust American dishes, amidst a sophisticated yet casual backdrop. Vida visually tempts with a lively exhibition kitchen and inspires a multi-sensorial dining experience to suit virtually every palate.
Think this is an outrage for a school superintendent to spend tax dollars on an expensive breakfast buffet at a resort hotel? Me too.
If you agree, please join me in sending a donation for the cost of the Superintendent's Breakfast Buffet to the Manna Smart Sacks Program.
Starr did make a sacrifice… he skipped the capers on his poached smoked salmon.
ReplyDeleteDoes 'Room Key' mean that our public employee, Josh Starr, was staying at the fabled Fontainbleu? So, 1 guest = $35.56 -- for breakfast. The taxpayers of Montgomery County must be the most generous in the nation. I am sure our firefighters, police, and first responders are happy to sacrifice their salaries for Starr. After all, it's all about the children.
ReplyDeleteMontgomery County schools chief proposes $2.28 billion budget, with spending increases
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-county-schools-chief-proposes-228-billion-budget-with-spending-increases/2013/12/12/2aac788e-6299-11e3-a373-0f9f2d1c2b61_story.html
Budgetpalooza! Now that the proposed MCPS FY15 Operating Budget is out, please review it and take a chapter to present at our Second Annual Budgetpalooza! on Wednesday, Feb. 5th, 2015, 7-9 pm at the Rockville Memorial Library. Sign up for a chapter at www.signupgenius.com. Search on Budgetpalooza!
ReplyDeleteTeachers reach into their own pockets to buy classroom supplies, while taxpayers provide $35 breakfasts to the Superintendent?
ReplyDeleteYes! That's what teachers WANT. The teachers' union is part of the MCPS budget team and is making ALL of these budget choices. Meals for administrators is part of the Apple Ballot budget plan! Teachers love this plan!
DeleteRemember to vote for all the APPLE BALLOT candidates in the next election to keep administrators well fed!
Note - Taxpayers are NOT represented at the MCPS secret budget table. The unions do NOT want taxpayers represented.
DeleteIn the past, the MCPS budget was set in PUBLIC by the Board of Education. But, the unions didn't like that public process and so now all of these budget decisions are made behind closed doors.
Vote Apple Ballot to keep the process secret, to keep administrators well fed, and to keep teachers using their own cash for classroom supplies!
All it would take would be a few teachers to stand up in public and say "I spent $35 of my own money on glue sticks because my principal said there was no money in the budget for it." But they never do. I understand it is because they are fearful of retaliation...but until someone has some courage, and takes a stand on this kind of stuff....it will continue...
ReplyDeleteand we see what happens when taken to extremes: ROCK TERRACE! Taking students' money to cover classroom costs...it won't end until the teachers get on board with asking that it STOP.
Parents have to do it. Teachers are in fear of their jobs.
DeleteAny teacher that chooses to do as Lyda mentioned above may feel free to contact me at the Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper. You can contact me at holden.wilen@gmail. It's hard to write about it in a newspaper if no sources (teachers) talk.
ReplyDeleteMr. Wilen, I would think that your readers would consider the fact that taxpayers are providing the Superintendent with $35 breakfasts (and $300 dinners) to be newsworthy, even if teachers are too intimidated to complain about it.
DeleteTeachers aren't allowed to talk to the media without permission of their principals (who first check with Dana Tofig for approval). This is a serious infraction for teachers.
DeleteWhile Josh Starr feasted upon his $35.56 lavish, smoked salmon breakfast, at his 5 Starr hotel, he may have reflected on the tens of thousands of MCPS Title 1 students, who, simultaneously, ate their “Free/Reduced Cost” $1.25 “breakfasts,” and uttered, “Let them eat cake.”
ReplyDeleteBTW, What's up with the December 2013 date/time stamps for the other comments? Wasn't "Breakfast: @MCPSSUPER Bellies Up to the Buffet while Hungry Kids Get "Bagel Sticks" posted Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 6:53? Am I missing something or in some kind of time warp?
ReplyDeleteRe-posting of a previous article.
DeleteTo be fair, Starr did save the taxpayers $2. If he had ordered the "American Breakfast" in 2014, it would have cost $30, not $28.
ReplyDeleteI remember Josh Starr remarking at last year's operating budget hearing that "he had a sacred trust to uphold to taxpayers to spend their tax dollars wisely,so he couldn't help" when a school requested the resources to relieve overworked school staff. Wouldn't it be great if Josh Starr would throw in with the rest of us and scrape by? Or at least quit charging lunch with colleagues to the taxpayers and charging $35 breakfasts to us at expensive hotels. He doesn't get how his corporate-spending behavior alienates the community. The worse part is that he doesn't seem to care.
ReplyDelete