Oh, dear -- again

Good lord-- this is the sort of story that's just Christmas come early for any reporter, never mind those with an equal interest in monitoring what boards do with money. The story writes itself. The boards I cover (not DSB Niagara) also tend to do sh*t like this every once in a while, though they usually confine themselves to an area hotel or the nearest Great Lakes beach. It's a win-win for people like us, and a lose-lose for the people who attend the conference. We want our educators to be well trained and up to speed on the latest developments in what they do with kids in classrooms. However, especially in leaner economic times, we want them to get all that training for free, in their own schools, without any travel, ever. Which always draws this response, from the original Standard article.

But District School Board of Niagara spokesman Brett Sweeney said the conference about assessing student progress was for professional development, something the Ministry of Education encourages and will improve local schools.
"Having the opportunity to develop professionally and learn and share that knowledge with their schools is important because it does provide a benefit to students in the end, and that is what's most important," Sweeney said.

The Toronto Sun had some success exposing trustee expenses last year and many sister papers were tasked with localizing these stories. Not all have, due to delays with Freedom of Information requests and appeals, but those stories have also shown trustees like to travel and seek professional development on the public dime. Again... it's a win-win for the critics and a lose-lose for the trustees.