There are a lot of ironies in the current fuss over spending by school trustees.

It was big trustee salaries and the building of supposedly Taj Mahal-like administrative buildings that helped propel the Conservatives to power in Ontario in the 1990s. They slashed trustee powers and salaries and, some might say, declared war on teachers.

Later, it was attacks by trustees, including then trustee Kathleen Wynne, over government heavy-handedness and the appointment of supervisors when trustees refused to cut costs, close half-empty schools or balance budgets, that helped undermine the Conservative government of Ernie Eves and usher in Dalton McGuinty’s first term.

Now it is Ms Wynne, as the province’s education minister, who is taking the same steps she so denounced when it becomes clear that, when a public official is left to set his own salary or perks, you are asking for trouble.

Why does this happen? It is tough to say.

You might argue many who run for public office have a high opinion of themselves — they are the proverbial cat’s pyjamas. When they talk about their work, they make comparisons to the responsibilities shouldered by the CEO of Exxon.

Allow them to pay themselves what they think they are worth and, well, $1 million might do it. If they can’t have that, perhaps a car, cellphone and travel allowance is in order. Any questionable expense that can be billed to the public is OK, too.

Ask them to balance the budget — as is the law and was the law when they were elected — and, like Ms Wynne when she was a trustee, they think they know better.

But it’s not just the Toronto Catholic board, but seven others, including both in York, where spending raised a red flag and the province wants an explanation.

In its defence, the local Catholic board is saying spending is at an acceptably low level and besides, we can’t compare what they do with other boards because they use different methods for recording expenses and allow trustees to claim different expenses than other boards.

That is fine and for now, at least, there is no reason not to believe them.

But what York Region residents would really like is a standardized system for all boards in Ontario so we can compare apples to apples and see what kind of results we are getting from our trustees compared to others.

Trustee shenanigans are a longstanding concern in Ontario and it is surprising to learn it has still not been brought under control with one system for all boards.