Chapter 513: The Secretary's Gaze!

When the host threw out the second question, Lu Fan felt it was extremely spicy, that's exactly the effect wanted! Tang Wenxuan is very good at gauging the leader's intentions.

Citizen representatives responded, out-of-district enrollment rampant, a school seat was "hyped up" to tens of thousands of yuan, high ones even over ten thousand, as long as "cash" opens the way, one can get into key schools. With school about to start, many parents and children are like ants on a hot pan, anxiously running around.

This question involves education, Vice Mayor Ma Caihong took the "elegant seat" and is responsible for answering questions and clearing doubts.

Following the principle of rather not stand out than make a mistake, Ma Caihong habitually said: "School selection can generally be divided into three types: one is selection by excellence, schools want to pick students with the best academic performance, for key schools they allocate 3%–5%; two is selection by power, people with certain power use or leverage others' power to achieve school selection; three is selection by money, people with certain economic strength buy slots with money, thus creating a corrupt interest chain. The City Education Bureau will definitely increase supervision, investigate and deal with each case!"

Not to mention the host and on-site audience dissatisfied, even Lu Fan felt this answer was too official, too formulaic, too perfunctory.

Seeing the Secretary's gaze, Ma Caihong was somewhat at a loss.

Lu Fan picked up the microphone and said: "On this question, I'll add a few sentences. Over the years, the notion of 'not losing at the starting line' and the intense pursuit of 'elite schools, elite kids' have made 'tiger moms' and 'monster moms' increasingly common, forming huge inertia."

As I understand, school selection for the primary-to-middle-school transition should be the most fierce competition, not only tormenting parents and children mentally, but the huge and sharp interest bloc it has formed has already jabbed at social fairness and deviated from the essence of compulsory education. The marriage of education and power lets school selection run wild like an untamed horse; if the "school selection frenzy" cannot be reined in, it is unfair to ordinary people!

I have overseen education work at provincial, municipal, and county levels, so I somewhat understand the "ways" here. Tracing to the root, the core of corruption is the principal, because no one can enter a school without his approval. Next, the Education Bureau and admissions office, with lax supervision and collusion, form an interest chain, since the approval and verification of each school's enrollment numbers are in their hands. Finally, various leaders' "approval notes" and "greetings" leave the principal unable to withstand pressure, so he opens wide the "convenience door."

Regarding these problems, the Municipal Party Committee will quickly study countermeasures, issue relevant regulations, put power into a cage of constraints, eradicate corruption in the education sector. At the same time, we ask the broad masses to supervise the "school selection" phenomenon and actively report to the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Discipline Inspection Committee.

I, on behalf of the Nanyuan City Municipal Party Committee, promise that any report will be verified, and if confirmed, will be dealt with: first remove from office, then investigate the person's economic issues, letting them face legal sanctions! For any leader who dares to say "hello" to schools, we will likewise investigate and deal strictly, zero tolerance!

The venue again burst with warm applause; Lu Secretary's words were inspiring, making the audience feel a strong sense of enterprise and high responsibility.

The third question involves the City Management Bureau: What is the reason the Garden Community has lacked heating for three years? When can it be resolved? Why, upon entering the heating season, do some communities still have no heating? Why not do maintenance work in advance to solve problems early? Why do some communities have heating that is not warm?

Sitting in the "elegant seat", City Management Bureau Director Bai Muting immediately contacted the workers' company, understood the Garden Community heating issue, and answered: "Last year, the Garden Community's courtyard environment lacked the conditions, so heating facilities were not established, thus unable to provide heat. This year, the City Management Bureau has listed it among twenty supervised communities. Currently, the community's heating network connection procedures are completed, and we strive to supply heat during the heating season."

For other issues, Bai Muting's answers left the audience dissatisfied, merely stating a position without clear timelines for handling.

Lu Fan stared at Bai Muting and added: "Keeping the people warm through winter is the goal of the government and heating companies' unremitting efforts. I assign the City Management Bureau a task: before this heating season, we must complete maintenance work; heating must be fully supplied by November 14, not missing a single household! Form a heating repair task force to improve service quality."

Moreover, the Heating Regulations stipulate that indoor temperature during heating should not fall below 18°C; for each degree below the standard, a 10% refund is given. This provision must be strictly enforced; after heating suspension, the City Management Bureau shall take the lead in handling fee reductions and refunds, and also pursue responsibility for dereliction of duty by the heating company. We in Nanyuan being a bit colder, I suggest the minimum temperature reach 19°C; the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee will promptly study and approve it.

The question was perfectly resolved, the studio applause thundered!

The fourth question is about teacher professional title evaluation. Due to the scarcity of title indicators and fierce competition, the resulting corruption problems are dazzling. First, favoritism-based titles. Front-line teachers wanting to obtain a title must find the leaders who control title allocation. Without moving the top leader, even if your qualifications are excellent, it's impossible. Second, money-based titles. Since the title evaluation slots are limited, some managers simply turn it into an 'auction' game, highest bidder wins! Third, power-based titles. The higher the title, the fewer front-line teachers there are, because titles have been monopolized and occupied by leaders. If the principal hasn't obtained a title, front-line teachers have no chance. Fourth, corruption in the evaluation department: teachers go through 'five passes, slay six generals', finally sent to the Municipal Education Bureau and Human Resources Bureau; if they don't 'operate' a bit, there's a high chance they'll be sent back, all previous efforts come to naught, leaving teachers wanting to cry but unable to.

Regarding this question, Vice Mayor Ma Caihong seated in the "elegant seat" answered without any coherence, only spouting big talk, empty talk, stock phrases, unable to explain the reasons or propose solutions, because she is utterly unfamiliar with this business!

Lu Fan's gaze descended again, his eyes carrying scrutiny, making Ma Caihong feel uneasy and constrained.

Lu Fan again picked up the microphone and said: "I'll add a bit on this issue. The Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government will convene a special meeting within a week to study breaking through the bottleneck of indicator limits; teachers' primary and intermediate titles will not be restricted by position ratios, and based on teachers' years of service and requirements, they will be directly promoted according to regulations!"

As soon as he said that, the on-site teachers were greatly excited, some even with tears welling up; Lu Secretary's words were gospel to the city's teachers!

Lu Fan continued: "The number of senior senior teachers in primary and middle schools remains under total quantity control; Nanyuan City will, following the policy orientation of cultivating and producing educators, do well in evaluating senior senior teacher titles for primary and middle schools, with high standards and strict requirements, setting a benchmark and model for primary and middle school teachers' development."

The Municipal Discipline Inspection Committee will establish a complaint mechanism, unblock teachers' rights channels; before senior titles are publicized, the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Discipline Inspection Committee must vet them. Strictly implement the rule that retirees may not evaluate titles, to prevent last-minute title evaluations before retirement. Severely investigate violations in primary and middle school teacher title evaluations, severely crack down on school leaders using their positions to grant titles to others for profit; find one case, double-open one case!

In front of televisions and phones, countless teachers of Nanyuan City clapped and cheered! They highly praised Lu Secretary as truly understanding education, practically the teachers' 'confidant'!

Soon someone discovered that Lu Secretary is actually a National Advanced Worker in Education, formerly the director of the Education Department; no wonder he handles education work with ease.

The fifth department accepting public inquiries is the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, which fielded five on-site questions, including housing purchase tyrannical clauses, fake intermediaries for shared-ownership housing, difficulty installing elevators in old buildings, difficulty opening dead-end roads, and rural garbage disposal difficulties—all concerning the people.

The director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Lu Jing, solemnly promised that tyrannical clauses involve coercive acts, which will be jointly understood and resolved with public security; for overbearing developers, they will be recorded in bad credit, given the maximum penalty, and their development qualifications will be re-examined.

Installing elevators in old buildings has long been a hot topic of public concern; residents spontaneously formed elevator groups, spent two or three months investigating, designed plans and sought residents' consent. However, because a few people held opposing views, the elevator installation was vetoed by a single vote, affecting 29 buildings.

Residents upstairs repeatedly approached relevant departments to report problems, but the replies were always that they didn't meet conditions. The building's residents said they also checked policies of other cities nationwide, finding many places have adjusted their policies in a timely manner, abolishing the single-vote veto.

Regarding the contentious single-vote veto issue, Lu Jing replied: The newly issued Civil Code contains corresponding provisions, requiring two-thirds of residents to vote and three-fourths to agree; the municipal government's new policy will also accelerate adjustments. Following procedure, at fastest one month, the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau will step in to coordinate, ensuring compliance with law and regulations, and guaranteeing that these 29 buildings get elevators installed wherever needed.

Lu Fan first showed a satisfied smile; Lu Jing is the bureau chief he personally selected, familiar with work, measures pragmatic, attitude proper, the on-site applause indicates the public is also satisfied.

The sixth department accepting public inquiries is Nan County; villagers reported that road damage has persisted for a year, unattended, affecting not only travel but also the transport of agricultural and sideline products.

County Party Secretary Shen Youqing made an on-site promise: handle it immediately, do it right away, completely resolve the problem within a week, and open the first kilometer for enriching the people.

Six issues, handled in less than half an hour; this episode of 'Public Inquiry' embodied Lu Secretary's demands for precision, pragmatism, and efficiency—no empty talk, stock phrases, or nonsense, directly promising deadlines and solving problems.

Next, slow progress on dangerous bridge renovation, difficulty seeing doctors, high medical costs, parking fees, community water outages, power outages, etc., kept being raised; the heads of relevant departments personally tackled the tough problems.

Time flew by; the program lasted a full three hours, resolving 42 problems, making the on-site audience and those in front of televisions, phones shout with delight! The official short-video livestream garnered over a million views, 600k+ likes, netizens flooded the screen with comments, Nanyuan went viral again.