From Bill Bush in The Columbus Dispatch:

Columbus City Schools have more than 120 buildings designed for teaching.

But in a three-day effort to teach its teachers, the district is renting banquet halls, high-end hotels and conference centers — using almost $145,000 in federal grant dollars.[...]

The district will pay up to $8,000 to rent Villa Milano, a marble-clad banquet hall with enough “classic elegance” that “you will think you have been transported to a romantic Italian Villa,” according to the hall’s Web site.

Other sites include: the Hyatt Regency ($23,000); the Greater Columbus Convention Center and the Hyatt on Capitol Square ($25,000 each); the Quest Business and Conference Center at Polaris ($17,000); and the Aladdin Temple near Easton ($12,500).

The district will pay the speakers more than $1.4 million in federal stimulus money, part of $64.2 million that Columbus schools have been awarded from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

One company, the International Center for Leadership in Education, will receive $468,258.

Sheridan WorldWise, a company run by former Columbus school board President Dave Dobos, will collect $84,500 to give several presentations. He will talk about the college-admissions process and the SAT and ACT exams, while other WorldWise-affiliated speakers will talk on other subjects.

I really feel for Spokesbabe Kim Norris, as this story is in addition to the Obama Administration using fuzzy numbers with “saved or created” jobs at Columbus schools.

And this is a perfect example as to why dumping piles of money on Ohio schools is NOT the answer to our state’s educational problems… as educrats will always find new, creative ways to waste your money.

Related posts:

1. Your Federal Stimulus Dollars Hard at Work… for Bike Lockers!
2. OH-12: Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Stimulus Hypocrite?
3. Strickland’s Chicken Coop Math: $930,000,000 Loss in Slot Money = $2.3 Billion Loss for Schools
4. More Stimulus Success in Ohio
5. Ohio Stimulus Update