The nation is broke because it spends too much. New Hampshire people need to pay attention to their own governmental bodies because the spending disease is spreading. Case in point: The Goffstown School District (SAU 19) decision last week to hire a consultant to address the climate at Mountain View Middle School.

Come again?

This adventure in spending will come at a minimum price tag of $30,000, the Goffstown School Board was informed in a report by School Superintendent Stacy Buckley. The consultant will work with a school leadership team to address concerns and perceptions about the school's climate and culture and academic rigor and staff turnover.

Question: Why do they need a paid consultant? If the leadership team needs some direction, why isn't Superintendent Buckley providing it herself? Isn't that part of a superintendent's job?

Buckley says the new leadership team will be made up of staff, students, parents and administration and will assess the school based on facts, not opinion. But the school principal will not be included and neither will Superintendent Buckley.

“We want to know what does a good middle school look like, and where are we at with that?'' Buckley said.

Again, if neither the school superintendent nor the school's principal knows what a good middle school looks like, they ought not to be in their positions. Goffstown's School Board and its taxpayers ought to put the kibosh on this wasteful spending and look carefully at who is in charge here.