Yesterday the Denver Post’s Jeremy Meyer and Burt Hubbard reported some of what can be learned by having an easier peek behind the financial curtain:

Spending on items other than salaries and bonuses by the Jefferson County and Douglas County school districts totaled $106 million and $91 million, respectively, from July 2009 to mid-February this year.

And while the bulk of that money is spent on necessary supplies for maintenance of schools, and for direct classroom expenses (such as books, office supplies and other items), millions are spent annually on restaurants, travel and training.

And Jeffco and Douglas are the two districts that have shown themselves the most comfortable with opening up their line-item spending so the public — including the press — can take a look. (The Post probably had to work somewhat harder to get the same sort of info from Denver Public Schools.) What’s going on in other districts: Cherry Creek, Adams 12, Aurora and Boulder Valley, to name a few?

Of course, as school districts in Colorado look to achieve savings during the current difficult budget times, eliminating the frills won’t get them all the way there. Cutbacks will have to hit the much larger personnel part of the budget, one way or the other. Trimming bureaucracy, reforming teacher and principal pay, and private contracting of non-classroom services also should be given strong consideration.

Nevertheless, when it comes to other spending practices in a district, the Starbucks and the catering and the out-of-state conferences, here’s a word to the wise: “If you can’t defend it, don’t spend it!”

Amy also highlighted the story this morning on the Colorado Transparency site.

I guess it’s a little different when it comes to school districts and “sharing” services. A recent article in the Pueblo Chieftain offers an account of a new development in the region’s two largest school districts:

Talk of consolidating Pueblo City Schools and Pueblo County School District 70 may be too early right now, but the concept of sharing services is not.

School board members and administrators from both districts met Thursday in a work session to discuss possible areas where they could share services in an effort to save money and be more efficient.

In addition to administrative services, it was mentioned that Pueblo City Schools and District 70 possibly could share “special education services, purchasing, maintenance, career and technical education and transportation.” If such a move saves money for taxpayers, and allows schools to go about their work more efficiently and focus more on helping students learn, then we all should give three cheers. But we should also recognize the real limitations.

Even if the two districts decided to take the big step of consolidating, it wouldn’t save a tremendous amount. If they really are interested in saving money and achieving efficiency, these districts should look at what privatization of services has to offer.

Beyond sharing services, Pueblo City Schools and District 70 would be even better served by sharing the opportunity for their teachers to decide for themselves whether they want to join or support a union with their hard-earned money.