Wave Maker: No Monopoly on Budget Blowing

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Thursday, March 31, 2005

No Monopoly on Budget Blowing

Lest those unfamiliar with Massachusetts come to believe that the Big Dig is in some way an anomaly here in Massachusetts, this should provide you with some perspective.

"The state plans to investigate billions worth of school
building construction across the state for budgets far beyond the amounts the
state originally approved and extravagant spending on routine
items.

The state plans to audit more than 600 school projects that have been
in line for money since 1989. State officials don't have a dollar amount for the
construction projects, but said those audited will be from a list of nearly
1,200 projects in the state worth at least $9.2 billion. [ed.: remember,
total cost of Big Dig, $15.2B?]

A new state authority on school construction, which met yesterday,
highlighted several projects it wanted to examine, including an Arlington middle
school that nearly doubled in price since the state approved its construction.
The state has been conducting preliminary audits of a handful of
schools..."

Among some of the whoppers that we'll be reading about soon (perhaps in the court report section) is --- how surprising!!! -- Lawrence High School.

Lawrence is planning to break down a 2,600-student school into six
high schools on one campus, with enclosed walkways, a performing arts center,
and fewer than 500 students each, so that teachers and students would better
know one another. School officials said the costs are reasonable, given the
scope of the project.

Better know one another. How nice and friendly.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise. Remember, Lawrence is where the Superintendent of Schools needed four attempts to pass a literacy exam. Want to hear what Wilfred had to say about this boondoggle? Of course you do:

''When I started the project five years ago, people laughed at me. They called it the Laboy Taj Mahal. Now there are not too many people calling it that any more."

No, they're calling it outrageous (or will be soon enough). Shall we start a pool, a little wager?

Projected cost is $104.5 M --- so shall we set the Over-Under at, say, $180 M? Who's in?

Posted by: Wave Maker / 1:01 PM/ |