By Trevor TenBrink
EAGnews.org

PHILADELPHIA – For a school district facing a $300 million budget deficit, accountability might be considered important.

There’s obviously no room for any type of waste.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

But there has been plenty of waste in the cash-strapped Philadelphia school district, and much of it appears to be due to theft.

That means district officials have not been keeping proper track of district property, a fact that will cause some to question their ability to lead the district back to financial health.

Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz recently announced that $196,000 worth of items are missing from 11 different schools in the district, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The missing items include computers, cameras, snow blowers, musical instruments, air conditioners, and medical equipment, the news report said.

That sort of news is not good for a district that’s asking the city and state to kick in hundreds of millions of dollars to help it survive and avoid massive layoffs in the fall.

“These findings suggest the district is not properly safeguarding and accounting for its $272.6 million furniture and equipment inventory,” Butkovitz said. “There appears to be a clear breakdown in the district’s procedures over its inventory, which reduced the ability to locate sampled property.”

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

Perhaps city and state officials should demand that the district come up with a solid plan to protect its assets before they approve any type of taxpayer-funded grants or loans.

District officials should prove that they value and respect they money they receive from the public before getting more. What’s the point in throwing bad money after bad?

The taxpayers of Pennsylvania deserve better than this, and have every right to demand it.