GOVERNMENT WASTE

- GEORGIA -

Date	Individual / State Agency	Who, What, Where?
05/23/05	Atlanta School System	Atlanta School System Wastes $73 Million on Internet Access With virtually no limit on spending, Atlanta since 1998 has built one of the countries most lavish computer networks for schoolchildren. Now, Atlanta says it needs $14 million a year -- three times the district's textbook budget -- just to run and maintain the network. And much of the promised benefit to students has yet to materialize. At one elementary school, equipment powerful enough to operate a small school district runs just 20 computers. At another, Atlanta billed the program for electronics for twice as many classrooms as the school has. Millions of dollars were spent at other schools that were closed or demolished within a few years. Elsewhere, boxes of costly computer components, some still wrapped in plastic, gather dust in storage.