Running Government Like A Business?

The U S Dept of Labor filed suit Wednesday alleging that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Child Protective Services Division forces employees to work off the clock and owes them over $1 million in overtime back wages.

Although the Texas Legislatures has added a billion dollars in funding to the department in the past six years, shrinking caseworkers caseloads form 40.4 to 29.5, caseloads still exceed the national average of 18.9, and Texas caseworkers' pay still is at or near the lowest in the country, averaging under $31,000.

But protecting neglected and abused children is like 'supporting the troops,' sounds good when you say it, but that doesn't mean much when it comes time to pay for it. If Texas officials really wanted to 'run government like a business,' another widely over-used term, they would pay competitive salaries to a staff sized for the workload.