An alleged affair involving a pair of athletic coaches in Sumter County, South Carolina has raised questions about taxpayer-funded coaching supplements across the school district. And for that matter, the whole state.
The ensuing dust-up is also sparking conversation over the ongoing subsidization of a multitude of high school athletic programs in a state where academic outcomes are among the very worst in the nation.
Seriously … should taxpayers really be picking up the tab for non-revenue generating athletic programs? Especially when cash-strapped parents are compelled to come out of pocket for school supplies? As they send their kids to schools that produce consistently sub-standard academic results?
Good questions …
According to our sources, district leaders have been asked to investigate whether Sumter high school softball coach Michael Moss was improperly compensated for coaching duties he allegedly did not perform.
Moss is embroiled in a high-profile divorce after a private investigator employed by his estranged wife, Brandi Boykin Moss, allegedly caught him having an affair with a fellow athletics coach (who also happens to be an elementary school teacher in the district). The allegation regarding improper compensation reportedly stems from this divorce action – which has been the talk of the town during the sweltering summer months.
This news outlet has no little interest in the interpersonal drama accompanying this matter … although we probably should. That is where the clicks are, right? Indeed … especially considering today is the first day of the 2019-2020 school year in Sumter county.
What a coincidence …
While there are plenty of salacious details to dive into as it relates to the alleged affair between Michael Moss and Courtney Buckner, we must lamentably leave those for the gossipmongers in this rural region of the state. And for local family law attorneys poring through the private investigative reports.
Our focus is on the dollars and cents … not only in Sumter county but across the Palmetto State.
How much money do South Carolina taxpayers blow each year on non-revenue generating high school sports? And more specifically: How much of that money is paid out in salaries or salary supplements to school district employees? And as it relates to this particular case, have supplements been doled out for work that was never done?
These are the questions we want answered …
Our bottom line is simple: In a state where test scores are scraping the bottom of the national barrel, there is absolutely no excuse for districts to waste money outside of the classroom. We have no problem with government-run school districts operating athletics programs, but these programs must be self-sustaining – and must operate without the benefit of taxpayer appropriations.
More to the point, the entire K-12 system must be overhauled in such a manner as to inject true, market-based choice into the equation – as opposed to perpetuating the increasingly expensive, demonstrably ineffective approaches of the past.
We plan to continue digging on this story … not necessarily this alleged affair or the specific allegations of dubiously disbursed supplements in Sumter county, but the bigger issue of taxpayer subsidies for high school athletics across the Palmetto State.
Stay tuned …
-FITSNews
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