Bethlehem Area School District's defense of swap deals falls short

Tom Paine wrote:

Congratulations on fine investigative journalism. Without these stories the incompetent BASD administration (Majeswki and Lewis) would not have been held accountable in public.
Now it's clear that not only did they now know what they were doing (and I'm being charitable here), but that Majewski can't even prepare an accurate report that describes what he actually did. Surely at this stage he could prepare a report that includes all the facts and meets the standards of the appropriate professional and regulatory organizations?
While Haytmanek and other directors may have found the swaps 'almost incomprehensible to the average person' I'm sure JP Morgan's bankers and the BASD financial advisors understood the swaps very well, which is exactly why Haytmanek et al should have just said "No!" I suppose it's nice to know that Haytmanek considers himself 'an average person' unlike Lewis who in the video seems to think he walks on water.
The taxpayers and children of Bethlehem have been taken to the cleaners by the BASD. We will be reminded of that when we open our tax bills and pull out our checkbooks and write a check for 5.1% more than last year. Did someone mention that the US economy is in trouble, we're approaching 10% unemployment, real wages are going down, etc.? Thanks, BASD - poor educational performance AND a tax hike. Good job!
The interesting question that remains is: Will anyone go to jail? So thanks to Lisa Boscola for triggering an official investigation - I'm sure state and federal law enforcement will be all over this to see if anyone got paid off.
And thanks to the Morning Call. We need superior journalism like this in our community to keep elected and appointed officials honest in local government, school districts, hospitals, and other public institutions using public money.
This is Pulitzer Prize winning journalism and I hope the Morning Call gets the Pulitzer it deserves.

BASD taxpayer and voter wrote:

FROM LORRETTA LEESON'S RESPONSE:
"An impression has been left that the Bethlehem Area School Board ignorantly and recklessly put taxpayers money at risk. The reality is that the Board employed experts to advise us and questioned these experts extensively. The Board asked about the risks involved in this type of financing and was assured that the risk was low. We were not properly apprised of the risks and we were misled to believe that the synthetic fixed rate was essentially the same as a fixed rate."
It's not your fault, Director Leeson. Just continue to duck your responsibility and point fingers at someone else. Ignorance is not a defense, Director Leeson.
Don't worry about governance and oversight responsibility either, Director Leeson. Continue to excel is gossip and innuendo.

O M G wrote:

i am so tired of hearing about this! Every time the BASD is investigated nothing is ever followed up to reveal the results.Why is that. Maybe it's because there is nothing to report. Maybe the 2 morning call reporters should keep their day jobs.

waste watcher wrote:

Finally the morning call gets it right....but what will be done by the monopolized teachers union to counteract this theivery of taxpayer money.....NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING...it will be swept under the rug like everything else they do...they will raise taxes stay in power and the taxpayers will sit back and do nothing.....welcome to america the land of unionized teachers that rape the public get paid summers off producing children that graduate below standards of other countries in reading writing and arithmatic. No wonder the U.S. is losing its place in the world of education. I don't blame the teachers for being frustrated with the politics that is in place in this area. All they want to do is teach.In a way i have to blame the local newspapers cause the back these political hacks 100% whenever they run for re-election. Just like allentown they promote poor politicians with their own agendas in place and the hell with the taxpayers of the community. It is about time the Morning Call promote good canidates and the hell with the good old boys getting re-elected.
Who really reads this anyhow.

Open your eyes wrote:

If teachers worked all summer they would get 25% more per year. Then I bet you will still complain they are paid too much. Wake up!!!!!!!
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waste watcher wrote:

Finally the morning call gets it right....but what will be done by the monopolized teachers union to counteract this theivery of taxpayer money.....NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING...it will be swept under the rug like everything else they do...they will raise taxes stay in power and the taxpayers will sit back and do nothing.....welcome to america the land of unionized teachers that rape the public get paid summers off producing children that graduate below standards of other countries in reading writing and arithmatic. No wonder the U.S. is losing its place in the world of education. I don't blame the teachers for being frustrated with the politics that is in place in this area. All they want to do is teach.In a way i have to blame the local newspapers cause the back these political hacks 100% whenever they run for re-election. Just like allentown they promote poor politicians with their own agendas in place and the hell with the taxpayers of the community. It is about time the Morning Call promote good canidates and the hell with the good old boys getting re-elected.
Who really reads this anyhow.

huh wrote:

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The administration is not unionized. What are you talking about?

So What wrote:

Did anyone notice the word UNREGULATED. How can these people use taxpayers money in UNREGULATEED investments? I only hope someone is held accountable!

From Bethlehem wrote:

I hope the Fed is looking into the back room dealings that went on here. No way was all this legal. My kids education is going to suffer because of this grandiose behavior and I want someone to pay for it!

sick and tired wrote:

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you are ridiculous--teachers don't get paid for holidays, summers, no bonuses, and no overtime. hundreds of papers to correct and constant preparation for classes along with grading. due to underfunding, we buy school supplies and materials for both our students and our classrooms. get real. if not for a teacher, you wouldn't be able to write your ridiculous comments.