MIDLAND - The Mackinac Center for Public Policy's ongoing "Show Michigan the Money Project" is asking every public school district in Oakland County to regularly post their checkbook registers or any other comparably detailed expenditure reports on the Internet for public inspection. Using the examples already provided by the Clawson Public Schools and the Oakland Intermediate School District, the free-market think tank hopes each of the county's districts will commit to checkbook transparency before school opens this fall.

"Clawson and the Oakland ISD took it upon themselves to post this information," noted Kenneth M. Braun, director of the Show Michigan the Money Project. "They deserve a lot of credit for stepping up early and making transparency a priority. We'd love to praise every district in Oakland County and the state for following their example."

Starting next week, Braun will begin contacting each of the county's school districts to encourage them to participate. The results will be announced at the end of the month. The Mackinac Center first called for school districts statewide to post their checkbook registers on the Internet last March.

The Show Michigan the Money Project provides a Web page of hyperlinks to the check registers of districts that are known to be posting them regularly. Links to comparable expenditure reports from other districts will be added as the Mackinac Center becomes aware of their existence.

The Show Michigan the Money Project is located at www.michigantransparency.org.

#####