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OPEN LETTER
to Riverside Public Schools District 96 Board of Education,
and Dr. Jonathan Lamberson, District Superintendent
Riverside, August 4, 2009
In light of the recent contract negotiations with District 96 superintendent Dr. Lamberson, we, the undersigned, feel compelled to express our disapproval with the level of compensation granted to Dr. Lamberson, and the handling of this issue by the members of District 96 Board of Education. We have concerns as to the intent and ability of the current school board to fulfill its duties and obligations to the District’s taxpayers, which include providing leadership and administrative oversight. As a result, we urge the Board to adopt 6 recommendations and policies, and ask Dr. Lamberson to voluntarily renegotiate his salary and not take the proposed pay increases.
Inadequate fiscal prudence
We have reached the conclusion that the current Board is lacking perspective with regard to a reasonable and fair level of compensation for the District’s superintendent based on two specific facts: first, the overall level of the superintendent’s compensation, and second, the 20% pay raise for school year 2008-09, aimed at further inflating pension benefits paid for by all IL taxpayers.
Over the terms of the superintendent’s two contracts, from school year 2005-06 to 2012-13, a 77% salary increase will have been granted to Dr. Lamberson. During school year 2012-13, Dr. Lamberson’s annual salary will be $313,000, not including other benefits.
For the purpose of providing perspective, following are the annual salaries for various high level governmental management and leadership positions. The Governor of the State of Illinois is paid $166,000, the City of Chicago Mayor $216,000, and the U.S. Vice President $221,000.
The CEO of the Chicago Public School System, which is the 3rd largest school district in the U.S., is paid $195,000. Chicago Public Schools are comprised of 666 schools, 407,955 students, and an operating budget of $4.855 billion. By comparison, Dr. Lamberson’s 2008-09 retroactively adjusted annual salary is $268,000. District 96 contains 5 schools and a total of 1,378 students, a vast majority of whom come from stable homes in a stable community, where parents prize and promote academic achievement.
The most recent 2008-09 school year salary adjustment that amounts to a 20% pay raise is inconceivable. It appears to be a move to circumvent state regulations and associated penalties meant to discourage the arbitrary action of granting the 20% pay raise in the first place. This irresponsible and unfair action renders the Board complicit in the abuse of the statewide pension system for educators, and presents an embarrassment to a District with a mission, among others, to foster respect for self and community.
Further, the board seems unwilling to acknowledge that events and forces outside the halls of the schools can and should have an impact on the spending habits of the district, and that the funds used to pay Dr. Lamberson's salary are coming from many people who are facing significant financial difficulties.
Lack of perspective regarding fiscal health of district
In their letter titled “Extending contract in best interest of District 96 community” published in the Riverside Brookfield Landmark on 8 July 2009, the Board asserts that the District’s great financial standing is due to Dr. Lamberson’s stewardship and expertise as the district’s business manager, while not acknowledging that the main reason for the District’s excellent fiscal health is the 2004 Property Tax referendum for District 96 which was approved by the taxpayers. As a result, District 96 has had a budget surplus totaling over $9million over the past 4 years of Dr. Lamberson’ tenure. However, expenses surged to just under $17 million in school year 2008-09 during his tenure, while they consistently ranged between $10.5 million and $11.5 million for the 5 years prior to Dr. Lamberson’s arrival at District 96. We conclude that D96 School Board members lack perspective regarding the key drivers responsible for the financial health of the district.
Inadequate oversight
The underlying message, in the limited communications by the Board with the community, alludes to the success of our schools and students primarily as the result of one man's efforts, much more so than a joint effort including our school principals, teachers, and parents. This apparent tendency to unevenly acknowledge credit is an issue of fairness, and is confirmed upon closer study of the levels of compensation across all levels of District staff. There is a significant discrepancy in the ratio of average administrator’s salaries over teachers’ salaries in District 96 as compared to the same ratio in the entire State. Over the past 10 years, based on information from the IL State Board of Education, the average administrator salary was $110,615 in the district, while the state average admin salary was $91,969, a 20% premium at D96 over the State. The teachers’ average salary of $52,446 in the district was actually smaller than the one in the State at $52,706.
Averaged over the last 10 years, 57.8% of D96 teachers hold a master’s degree or above, as compared to 48.5% in the State, and the average individual teacher’s experience over the same period is 13.4 years in the district and 13.7 years in the state. Additionally, the pupil to administrator ratio has consistently been lower in the district and stands at 172:1 in 2008 as compared to 212:1 in the state.
Recommendations
In light of all of the above, we, the undersigned, urge the Board to adopt the following recommendations and policies in the spirit of our shared purpose and highest objective to continually improve District 96 schools:
1. The Board shall improve communications with the community. It achieves this charge by proactively soliciting and balancing the participation and input of members of the community. It shall establish a forum for questions, discussion, and public input in addition to and outside of the monthly School Board meetings. In responding to the communities’ questions and concerns, the Board shall set the highest standard with regard to transparency and accountability, aimed to assure that every possible angle is covered as the basis for informed decision making.
2. All written information and documentation discussed during regular Board meetings shall be made available to the general public at least 3 business days in advance of a Board meeting, similar to the pdf packets the Village of Riverside administration posts on their website for review and download. All written information and documentation pertaining to business items discussed during closed session meetings shall be distributed to all Board members 3 business days in advance of the closed session meeting.
3. The Board shall fulfill its leadership role within the larger Riverside community, and acknowledge the role of education within the community’s broader purposes and other taxing bodies. It shall proactively engage in coordination and planning meetings and activities held among the major taxing bodies, and initiate them in case such efforts do not exist. The Board shall regularly provide status reports of this coordination effort to the community.
4. The Board shall assume a leadership position in fighting prevalent abuses in the State of Illinois Administrators and Teachers Pension System. It shall do so on all jurisdictional levels, including local, state and federal. It shall reach out to all members of the community in soliciting the vast expertise among its residents, in an effort to jointly tackle and fight the prevalent abuse of a well intentioned system.
5. The Board shall present to the community the systems of performance tracking and processes of accountability used to evaluate the District superintendent and its principals.
6. The Board shall request that Dr. Lamberson follow the example of Elgin Area School District U-46 Jose Torres, who turned down his pay raise as reported in the Daily Herald on July 22, 2009.
Sincerely,
Thomas Jacobs, 104 Scottswood Road, Riverside