Conservative Texas advocacy group Empower Texans recently concluded a four-part series on the Harris County Department of Education, which is obsolete yet continues to suck up taxpayer dollars. Here are the links and brief excerpts. Be sure to click over.
- Part One: Duplicating Government in Harris County – Empower Texans
Harris County taxpayers have been unwittingly paying for the same service from different governmental entities for years. On top of paying taxes for their local school district, they’ve been funding $16 million in taxes to the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) for nothing more than a duplication of services already provided by other entities.
- Part Two: The Obsolete Operations of the HCDE – Empower Texans
The Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) represents exactly the kind of obsolete and financially inefficient government entity that has plagued our public education system for years. It’s one of only two departments of its kind left in Texas, providing only redundant services our current system of independent school districts are already set up to handle.
Just how long will a government entity last after it’s outlived it’s usefulness? The HCDE has been obsolete for decades, and will continue to leech off Harris County taxpayers indefinitely if something isn’t done about it.
- Part Three: HCDE So Inefficient, It Should Be Unconstitutional – Empower Texans
How much did you spend on food and drinks in a four-month span? The Harris County Department of Education spent about $72,000 in taxpayer funded “Restaurant/Refreshment” purchases from August to December last year, a microcosm of waste so bad that many would consider it unconstitutional.
- Part Four: Venturing Capital With Taxpayer Money – Empower Texans
Since the Harris County Department of Education hasn’t been in charge of managing public schools for over 90 years, it’s had to find another way to spend its taxpayer funds: investing in for-profit businesses. Apparently, venture capitalism is one of the many all-important duties a department of education is meant to tackle.
It’s well past time to shutter this wasteful, obsolete quasi-governmental agency.
PREVIOUSLY: Activists narrowly head off HCDE stealth tax increase effort
