School dumpster gives up 12 Expensive Globes! Random Find..

[jeff of pa]

just think if schools didn't waste Tax Dollars
like that, You wouldn't be able to
Make some of Yours Back at their Expense

Ya Gotta think of the Up-side

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[diggummup]

just think if schools didn't waste Tax Dollars
like that, You wouldn't be able to
Make some of Yours Back at their Expense

Ya Gotta think of the Up-side

Just think of all the stuff that doesn't get "rescued".

We need a dumpster diving forum!!!

We have a 5 page thread that's a good read-
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...c,37167.0.html

[Mentone Grizz]

As much as I would like to go to the next school board meeting and go off on them about wasting tax payers money, (They should have a yard sale every couple of years and sell these surplus items to fund other projects rather than just toss them), it would be my luck that they would arrest me for theft and trespassing because I took them out of the dumpster in the first place. "No good deed goes unpunished." Take the money and run. I'd also go back by that dumpster every few days during the summer and see what else they may be getting rid of.

therick

Here in California, all school district property (purchased with tax dollars) that isn't broken or otherwise unsafe MUST be offered back to the public through auction sales. Some districts perform their own auctions, while others contract for them. California Ed Code has a provision for straight sales without auction process, but it has a daily cap amount that cannot be exceeded. I would be willing to bet that similar requirements exist where these globes were saved from the trash. If the district had been following legal process, they would have made an effort to offer them back to the public through a sale of some type. Just tossing them is not appropriate for a myriad of reasons.
- Grizz

[FreedomUIC]

Nice find!!!
For those that aren't aware, public schools have laws that prohibit them from easily and efficiently reselling items deemed "surplus or trash". While the globes look nice, they are becoming an item that just takes up space in a classroom. With google Earth and the technology age, they are no longer a necessity in a classroom.
Some schools also have laws/policies restricting them from just giving them away. Sometimes the best items are sitting there in a school dumpster just waiting to be found.
Is it a shame...yes. Is it the school's way of wasting tax money, NO. If you don't like it, go to your local school board meetings and voice up your opinion on these policies and fight to change them. I work for a school and I cringe every time we throw a bunch of good stuff away. Of course, I usually bring the truck to work the next morning and show up early before the garbage man gets here

Chances are those globes were donated to the school by an organization and not purchased. It does not excuse what they did with them, which is deplorable. Our district tags everything valued over $500.00 and is inventoried every year. Obsolete items are taken to the district store and sold to the public with proceeds going to the "Operating" fund. The store has everything from computers to carts and plates to stoves.
By law we are not allowed to toss anything, it must go to the store to be sold and some taxpayer money recovered.

Once must also remember that School Districts never pay what the general public pays for equipment. Grants cover quite a bit of supplies and what grants cannot buy, we have vendors that honor State contract pricing on technology. Some of the vendors even allow employees to purchase the new equipment for themselves at the rate they charge to the district. Microsoft is a huge donator to the school districts. Take for example the new Windows Office Suite (Complete). $499.00 to the public, $69.00 to the District and its employees along with students, both in K-12 and College. So you can see where these globes might not have cost the taxpayer nothing and had probably been sitting in the classrooms for years. How many Geography teachers can a school have, 3 maybe 4 at most at the HS level. Storage is a precious commodity at the school house and they probably kept seven or eight and tossed the rest.

JMHO

[WIT]

UPDATE:

The majority of these globes ended up at a start-up school located in Northern Minnesota. I did accept some money but it was very little. I was happy to know that they were going back into a school. The two teachers who picked them up were absolutely thrilled.