“There’s just got to be more to this story.”

At least the Howie Hanson payoff has raised one DNT reporter’s eyebrows. This is from Brandon Stahl;s blog and it contains a link to Sarah Horner’s Eduspeak blog. By the way, the comments section following both Brandon’s and Sarah’s posts are very entertaining. I didn’t bother mentioning how stupid an idea it was for the School District which has its own IT department to pay an independent contractor to do for the District what most of its seventh graders can already do on their own. That absurdity has not escaped other people’s notice:

BUZZ blog: Difference between Duluth City Council and School Board

– 12/18/2009

The difference between the Duluth City Council and Duluth School Board? $19,000. Read more at BUZZ.Duluth.

$81 per Facebook fan?
I missed this blog post from education reporter Sarah Horner last week, reporting that the Duluth School District is giving local blogger Howie Hanson $19,000 to help the district get on board with social networking:

“With the help of local blogger Howie Hanson, the school district launched its own Facebook page in September and plans to branch out in to other social networking arenas as well, such as Twitter and Constant Contact, according to Katie Kaufman, the district’s public relations director.

“The Minnesota Department of Education is doing it, some of the local colleges, too, and we’re going to see how they work for us,” Kaufman wrote in an email to me. “We’re excited to see how the new communication tools work out, especially since social networks are so popular with young people.”

There’s just got to be more to this story. Has to be.

About the author