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Raise for RB Assistant Principal

(34 posts)
  • Started 3 years ago by ChrisHajer
  • Latest reply from Catherine
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  1. spatny
    Member

    OK Fred - I'll try. They don't. That's two words. here's the footnote:

    I think there must have been an agreement, tacit or written, in place, that this is what would happen, and no doubt it has been programmed into their budget. It's fine, in my view, to see what changes can be made in the future, I think that should be done, but in this case I would have to say that they would not have done this if it had not been part of the deal they had with Mr. Scanlon. I think public dissatisfaction here is much like, and perhaps caused by, the AIG debacle. Fair is fair. Let's not take it out on a guy that has held up his end of the bargain and been damn good for that school.

    Posted Friday Mar 27, 2009 20:11 #

  2. Catherine
    Member

    No, I know the difference between AIG and public sector unions. The reason they are coming under fire is taxes spent on salaries and bens with no exposure to market forces. The reason the schools are coming under fire here is instances of outrageous spending when the village itself is in dire straits. The UK is in a fury because the teachers' union wants a 4 day teaching work week and a 10% pay raise. They are not bailing out AIG.

    Multiplying unfairness does not make fairness. This is manifestly unfair, certainly to the taxpayers. I talked to a nurse recently who used to work at Cook County hospital. We talked about her leaving the County's employ, what with all their benefits. She told me they added $50,000 to her retirement fund before she left. I asked her why. She said, just to do it. Well, I was not going to go further into her finances, but you get the picture.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 08:25 #

  3. CuriousResident
    Member

    My comment about "punished for not being union" seems to have missed its target.

    The point is that the 'pay scale' was set by the contract with the union...there are only a few non-union employees - administration.

    Market value for education administrators is higher, not lower, than teachers (1).

    Regarding "how does a triple end of career pay hike help this or any organization?
    IMO, this is not looking at this fairly. Education pay schemes are outdated, but the landscape is what it is until reformed (2).

    Think about it. We are talking about how the linchpin(3) of the school is compensated.

    For me "the basic question" is: Should the assistant principle be compensated less than an equivalent experienced teacher?

    ------------------
    119 - quoted = 100
    ------------------

    (1) <http://www.iasb.com/services/j5010203.cfm> According to John Forsyth, president of Education Research Service, experienced teachers are not applying for administrative positions because, when they factor in the number of working days per year that principals have to put in on the job, the financial incentive isn't there. In addition, they feel that the increased pressure to perform in the position makes the promotion a risky proposition.

    In this same study, approximately 50 percent of the districts surveyed indicated they had encountered a shortage of qualified candidates for the principal positions. Shocking as it may seem, some superintendent search firms report that they now recruit "smiling faces" with competence and experience desired, but not required.

    Hiring and supporting quality superintendents and principals is essential if districts are to survive and thrive in the 21st century. This is the number one challenge for the boards of education now and in the future.

    (2) <http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2008-03-PP08-teacherpay-bt.pdf> Bringing Teacher Compensation into the 21st Century - "[T]eachers are compensated based on a rigid and archaic pay system that has no relation to a teacher's ability to improve student achieve- ment. Neither the minimum salary schedule nor across-the-board pay raises for all teachers is directly tied to teacher quality.

    (3) <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/linchpin> a central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 10:17 #

  4. Catherine
    Member

    Another recent study showed the single most important determinant of student success was great teaching, not classroom size, money, or administrators.

    Teachers are linchpins, students are linchpins, a roof is a linchpin. Everybody can't be a linchpin. We can't afford it.

    I see from the federal labor database that the median salary for assistant principals at high schools is about $75,000, principals $93K. Wow, we must be a very wealthy community.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 10:34 #

  5. Fred
    Member

    Curious, A for creativity, B for research, D for answering the question posed. The question was: How does the awarding of an end of career bonus help the organization? You could extend your argument and say: "The presence of a considerable retirement bonus will be a retention incentive." That would hold some water. We should be taking this opportunity of fiscal scrutiny to find the BEST way of compensation. This triple max raise has already been identified as an abuse by the State. When union contracts come up they should be very closely scrutinized. Non-union pay agreement review should include this scrutiny immediately. It is ironic that the "CEO" of the Village is being castigated for making 120-130k and the second in line in the school district is on the way to 160k.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 10:44 #

  6. Catherine
    Member

    The village manager is the COO, the Trustees the CEO, we are the shareholders, the customers, and the Board of Directors.

    But, well said. Extraordinary that this has been identified as an abusive practice by the State. If they consider it abusive, it really must be abusive.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 10:53 #

  7. CuriousResident
    Member

    I'm not debating what specifically determines student success...

    If you do not believe T.Scanlon is a linchpin at RB, you should to talk to people that work at RB and hear what they think.

    *we* can't afford to cut off our nose despite our face.

    If you want to be negative, you can always find things to point at. In this case you are looking at median. Relatively speaking *we are* a wealthy community. Yet we are no where near the top.

    Take a look at these sites, plenty of pitch fork carrying folk there~
    <http://www.illinoisloop.org/salary.html>
    <http://www.championnews.net/salaries.php>
    Run the top 200 saleries for reference of 'overpaying'...

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 10:56 #

  8. Catherine
    Member

    Well, the point is not about Mr Scanlon personally. The question is where does it all end when there is no more tax money to be had? Do you think anyone is going to approve tax increases for the foreseeable future? I do not. All must share in the disaster that has befallen us. No one group of people get to be immune from it.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 11:18 #

  9. spatny
    Member

    If I might amalgamate: Tim Scanlon is extremely well-liked, competent and valuable. He, along with others, was probably promised this deal, maybe when hired or some time ago. He has held up his end, and the minds of many, done more than he had to. He has been, is and will be for the next three at least a valuable asset for RBHS. If the whole scheme of teacher compensation is out of whack - and I think it always has been. my wife was a career teacher (intermediate) and still subs so I have some familiarity with this situation. Many teachers feel that the admin people hog the budget and don't have the day-to-day classroom responsibility - so there are people on all sides of the question. I happen to think teachers are perhaps the most important lnk in the chain, but others doubtlessly disagree. Anyway, it appears that the tough times we are having - and going to have - may bring about some good if they are incentive enough to clear up all these situations about salaries, benefits, etc. - at schools, police, fire, wherever. I hope it can be accomplished but wouldn't like to see an innocent individual pilloried for just receiving what he has coming. Of course, until this kind of stuff is cleared up and clarified, I don't see any request for new funds being approved. And that is why I can't understand why some do not want - or seem not to want - the Village budget carefully looked at, now, as a result of this election.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 11:42 #

  10. Fred
    Member

    I don't think anyone doubts that the execution of the current budget and the formulation of the next budget will have a lot of eyes on the entire process. The question is whether the expectation of a balanced budget through efficiencies alone is posssible. Re-reading the RCA platform, they do not specifically state this. The language is more 'balance expenditures with income and preserve appropriate service.' Whoever gets the nod to sit on the board, I hope the present level of interest continues. Line by line review of an approximately $10M municipal budget must be an excrutiatingly mind numbing iterative process. Some spend down of the reserves won't kill the Village. If a voter supported revenue source is required in the future (my opinion is yes) then this level of analysis will be required.

    Posted Saturday Mar 28, 2009 11:58 #

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