At the risk of wearing out our welcome on this topic …

The lack of public outrage over the most recent scandal to plague Franklin’s public school system is nearly as confounding as the scandal itself. Another school board meeting came and went, and yet another opportunity for citizens to voice their concern has been missed.

One of the primary reasons the school board and superintendent have been allowed to practically destroy an entire school system is that there is no system of accountability in place. Granted, there is virtually no mechanism in place for disgruntled taxpayers to depose an ineffective city official, but at the very least there is opportunity during citizen’s time to voice concern.

At Thursday’s meeting, not one person rose to speak and question how the superintendent overspent his annual budget by nearly one half of a million dollars.

Not one.

In fact, the silence all over the city with regard to the systematic dismantling of our schools has been deafening. Not a single public comment by any of the civic or business advocacy groups who are supposed to be working for the betterment of Franklin has been made. Not the Educational Foundation, not the chamber of commerce, not anyone.

Perhaps it’s time for those who privately claim to be concerned about the condition of our schools to stop looking at the school board and superintendent’s office as the place to lay blame.

Perhaps it’s time for those who have been quietly wringing their hands to look in the mirror instead.