School News of Note

In case you missed it, there were two stories in the last 24 hours concerning issues in the Baltimore County Public Schools system.

In the first, David Collins, an investigative reporter at WBAL TV, reports that some contractors complain that the schools system uses a purchasing co-op that limits the contractors' ability to compete for county schools contracts.

Those contracts over the last five years went to one company, Collins reports.

The result is that county taxpayers may have over-paid for some school roof repairs between 2005 and 2010 to the tune of $30 million, according to Collins' report.

This morning, Baltimore Sun reporter Liz Bowie reported that the county hired 35 new employees on the business side of the system at a cost of $1.9 million.

The hiring came at a time when the school system was .

Bowie estimates that 42 teaching positions could have been saved if the business positions had not been filled.

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