[turbo6bar]

Superman, I'm not sure I understand your post. Well, I do in some ways. First, you say government employees are underpaid and underappreciated. Then, you say government organizations are underfunded and therefore get the job/mandates done barely, or poorly. So if the employees are unsung heros, why is the job barely done or not at all?

The citizens do not have the inside info on the running of the government, but we aren't stupid. In the city of Memphis, TN, the Memphis City Schools get $3 for every $1 spent in the Shelby County Schools (there are two school systems in the county). Yet, the Memphis City Schools are some of the worst in the nation, while the Shelby Country schools are still decent. Shelby County is now in massive debt. Inside Memphis, population growth is stagnant or decreasing. There is no need for new schools. In Shelby County (outside Memphis City limits), there is huge growth, and a massive need for new schools. However, under the mandates, for every $1 borrowed to build a new school in Shelby County, the Memphis City Schools get $3. Now, if Memphis City Schools are building NO new schools, what the Hades are they doing with the money? Mind you, the Memphis City Schools were without air conditioning for most of the 1980s and into the 1990s. Where is all that money? I think this is a legitimate beef. If you can't trust legislators/administrators to handle the schools, when can you trust them?

I think the answer is in Shelby County Schools you have good management of resources along with teachers who care. In Memphis, you have corruption, gross waste, and anarchy. Unfortunately, the Shelby County Schools suffer through less funding in order to support their corrupt sibling. Very sad...