Hosts call out the fiscal dysfunction behind America’s school meltdown.

Accounting ARC
With Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto

When CNBC published a video examining why U.S. public schools are facing severe budget shortfalls, it sparked a passionate accounting conversation. On the Accounting ARC podcast, co-hosts Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA, offer a reaction episode that reframes the crisis through the lens of financial strategy—and accountability.

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Both CPAs were struck by one glaring omission in the original reporting: the absence of accounting professionals in decision-making roles. “Where’s the CFO?” asks Shimamoto, founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies, and founder and inspiration architect of the Center for Accounting Transformation. “Who looked at the time limits on that COVID-era grant money and said, ‘Hey, this isn't going to last’?”

Patrick, CEO of VERIFYiQ, and co-founder and educator at TB Academy, echoes that frustration: “It’s like budgeting on hopes and dreams instead of facts and forecasts.”