Last updated on 2011.04.01
John Deasy is moving up in the Los Angeles Unified School District from deputy superintendent to superintendent. But he's not moving up in pay: he's told the board to keep the $55,000 raise the promotion would have brought. For now, he'll stay at his current deputy's salary of $275,000. That's a 17% difference... not quite the 100% cut faced by the 7,000 L.A. teachers to whom Deasy sent preliminary layoff notices in February, but still a significant gesture.
Closer to home, Steve O'Connor, the new "assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum and professional development" in the Sioux Falls School District, will get a salary 10% below his predecessor Fred Aderhold's $138,000. (Now if they could just cut 10% off the length of his job title.)
Here are the current salaries for Madison Central's administrators:
- Vince Schaefer, superintendent: $96,770.00
- Daniel Walsh, elementary principal: $78,711.50
- Cotton Koch, middle school principal: $77,206.50
- Sharon Knowlton, high school principal: $76,373.00
- Paula Kingery, special education director: $68,470.00
- Darryl Postma, activities director: $67,001.00
- I don't have data for new business manager Mitchell Brooks, but the woman he replaced, Cindy Callies, was making $58,948.00
Now remember, Madison administrators can already hop the border and enjoy better salaries in Minnesota (contact John Sweet and Dennis Germann for details). South Dakota's K-12 administrators rank 48th nationally for pay, with an average of of $65,590. Then again, the Rutland superintendent just 13 miles from Madison, makes just $53, 261.
Here's an old thought made new: the term principal comes from the idea of a principal teacher, like a prime minister, a member of the body who is elected to be the first among equals. Principals used to be just another teacher who was invested with additional authority over the school. What if we did away with principals and instead appointed a committee of senior teachers to govern each building?
For example, suppose we eliminated the high school principal's position. That's $76K saved right there. We then appoint the five most experienced teachers in the building to a new governing committee. We reduce each of those teacher's classroom obligations by one period a day, time they can use to meet, and handle administrative issues. We give each of those teachers a $5K administrative bonus. We hire another teacher to take up the slack in the classroom. We come out with maybe $20K in savings, plus we get collaborative decision-making that engages teachers in governance.
So how much is good school administration worth to you? And what other models of school governance might help us meet our kids' needs?
Bad idea. I have a significant amount of experience dealing with administrators. You NEED to have principals in the schools to deal with parents, teachers, stuents, and paperwork and headaches.
So why not empower teachers to be those go-to people, Michael?
It is not the system of education that is broke, it is the financing of education. The state refuses to follow the law for education funding and instead continues to cut. We have to look at our revenue sources and find a way to fund education properly from year to year. We have to learn that TAXES is a five letter word, not a four letter word. I think some individuals have forgot that TAXES pay for public schools, roads, public utilities, public safety officers, and even FARM SUBSIDIES. Without TAXES, we would not have any of these programs. We have to understand and respect that public education is not free and that it does require hard work, sacrifice and commitment. The leaders in Pierre cannot say they are for education and then significantly decrease funding months later. It not only impacts our K-12 system, but our higher education centers across this state. Less money equals less education. Less education equals less research and development, and in the end, less innovation and entrepreneurship that will drive new industries and job growth. I am for any type of tax that will restore funding to schools and get us out of last place for teacher pay and education funding in this nation. Sales Tax, Income Tax, Property Tax, Special Use Tax, One Time Surcharge Tax, whatever it takes. But just saying NO to any new tax won't get us anywhere.
Cutting positions should not be an option and will only cause more work for already overworked teachers, increase class size, and decrease the quality of education. When you look at all the facts and studies, increased class size and work load for teachers generally equals poor outcomes in meaningful learning.
I would bet most of the teachers at Madison Central would take a small decrease in salary, rather than seeing one of their fellow teachers fired. Now, they already sacrifice a lot and could be paid much more by going over the border to Minnesota. But, I am willing to bet most of them enjoy living in Madison and are dedicated to their students and community. There may need to be some negotiations with the local education association to see if some form of a temporary pay cut can be done so that we do not lose positions. This will not help moral, but I think most know it may be the only solution. I think it would be a good public relations move as well. Think of it as a good will gesture that will hopefully be returned to those teachers and students later this fall when we attempt to get a bond passed for the remodeling plan for MHS. If our teachers are willing to sacrifice, and the public sees that, maybe the majority of our community will come to the polls and support our school district. Or at the very least, keep our opt-out at the same levels so that we do not lose more teachers.
Or, we could ask our community for another opt-out to help fund salaries for the upcoming year, like we have done the last few years, since our State government continues to refuse to fund education at the appropriate levels per state law.
To save some more money, maybe there can be some limited reductions in extra-curricular activities or limited travel, but we also cannot afford to cut in these areas. These activities are vital to helping students become well-rounded adults and helps them with their preparations to become an effective and productive citizen in this country as an adult. Unfortunately, asking Madison residents and businesses for more private funding for extra-curricular activities may not work. Fund-raising cannot be the solution for everything, and selling advertising only gets you so far.
I don't know what the right solution is, but I do know the school board will have some tough decisions to make when negotiations start with the teachers.
I know you are looking for solutions Cory, but at some point, I also think we have stand up and fight back against these attacks on public education. We cannot compromise on everything. Sometimes, we have to stand strong. The other side has not been able to compromise for years now, hence the lost decade of 2000-2010. Looks like this decade will be much of the same if we do not get some real leadership in Pierre.
If we value education in this Madville Town, then we will find solutions to support education and fund it correctly. I think the majority of us, on both sides of the political isle, are ready to stand up to the corporate interests and high-power brokers and tell them enough is enough. We can find a 60% super majority that will support education.
-AKA
Amen, Ashley. I love my country, my state, and my city, and I love all of these enough to be willing to pay TAXES to keep things going. I like having roads, bridges, sanitation systems, FAA and air traffic controllers, the CDC to prevent and/or stop epidemics, social security for the elderly, national parks, monuments, museums, libraries, and - perhaps above all - schools. And I know that, despite all the propaganda to the contrary, you cannot have civilization without paying for it. There's no such thing as a free lunch, nor a free education. And we have to quit agreeing with the people who say there is, that somehow we don't need tax dollars to fund these things, that somehow they can all be done for nothing. They can't.
To AKA: Are you going to run for a state legislative position?
Tim, I have no political office aspirations, but I will support the appropriate people on both sides of the isle that are willing to make common sense decisions that support our future growth as a community and state. In order to prosper, I believe Education and Research has to be our top priority.
This past Monday, I got up at the school board meeting to stand up for our teachers, our students, and those we have elected to the current school board. (Remember, this is a school board that we elected to represent the majority and guide the education process in Madison.) They spent two years trying to find the best plan to remodel the High School and related facilities. They worked with PROFESSIONALS that knew we had to find something that was cost efficient and understood we could not build a brand new school at a 30 or 40 million dollar price tag. Instead, they settled on remodeling and adding facilities where needed. Professionals is what we needed to complete this analysis, not "backseat" architects and "wannabe" contractors. With the assistance of these real professionals, the board created a reasonable plan and brought it forward to the community for a vote. It was evenly split, and unfortunately, we need a super majority of 60% to pass this kind of funding.
I am disappointed that the electorate did not agree that the Madison Central School Board had the best interests of this community in mind, but the fact remains we need a remodeled and or new school ASAP. No matter how you feel about gyms, libraries, fine arts, etc., there is a serious need for a new and or remodeled school.
We also have to deal with the fact that we are losing money in our general fund for salaries for teachers thanks to our state legislature. It appears that education is losing ground in this town from every angle. But that is not a reason to stop moving forward on new infrastructure.
So the question is, will the rest of the community stand up with me and get to the polls to support education? Will we stop teacher layoffs, will we review our new/remodel school plan and bring it back for another vote? Will Madison make this a priority? Or will we sit back and say, "NO NEW TAXES!"
We don't need to be extreme on either side. I think the majority of us can find a way to fund education. We can reverse the trend of being dead last in the nation for education funding. We don't have to be number one, but let's shoot for something better than last place. The polarization of both parties in the last ten years has led to this anti-government, anti-tax, anti-public anything attitude that is dangerous and frankly, unpatriotic. We need effective Government for the people, by the people, and most importantly, FUNDED by the people. It should not be for the large land owners, for the large corporations, and on the backs of our children trying to get a decent education.
If we take care of education, the future graduates of our schools will help innovate and grow our business community. This is what will ultimately stimulate the economy. Otherwise, they will leave this state to find better schools, better jobs, and places with more economic growth and opportunity.
Some of you probably have already experienced your children moving away in search of better opportunities. Let's work together to keep our people here in South Dakota and hopefully in Madison.
Eve, I don't know how much you pay in taxes and it's really none of my business. But when you the same as accuse me of not being willing to pay taxes to support all the things you are willing to pay for, I have to speak up. We DO PAY taxes, lots of taxes. Just because we do not support the additional amount of taxes that the proponents of this remodel/gym project would mandate, does NOT mean we pay no taxes or aren't willing to pay some more. And no, we aren't huge farmers, we aren't rich people, we live in a small 1,000 square foot, one bathroom house, with an unfinished basement, and we happy with it.
As long as those who favor this project or any other gov't service, without realizing who would actually be paying for them, I have my doubts that any consensus can be arrived at. Your attitude just further divides people.
And instead of going after me, go after Obama's buddy, the chairman of GE, who actually IS getting by without paying income taxes. And this must be OK with Obama because he appointed Imelt to be head of his economic advisory board.
You need one person in charge. You could have this person teach a class, but spreading out responsibility to several teachers is not a good idea. Principals need to be able to be at every meeting and have the authority to make decisions without consulting a committee.
Every time I went to a MHS basketball game this year Sharon Knowlton was there, making sure the students did not get too excited.
Remember at one time, each grade school had a principal.
What can we do to save money? All of us need to get on top of our game and do a better job. Our attitudes must change. We need to innovate. We need to show the students the real world application of science, math and English. We need to inspire our own kids. We need to get off the couch, away from the TV and participate in life.
Linda, how much of a percentage increase in taxes would you be willing to pay for school building improvements?
I don't know the numbers for ag land, but I do know that the additional burden could be heavy on one farmer if he owned many quarters.
It takes balance. Proponents or opponents can make passionate arguments that sounds reasonable (they have tunnel vision to a great extent), but the bottom line education has to be within a budget and the school has be representative of the community.
Thankfully our school renovation takes a community vote, and these voters should be respected. They will weigh the pros and cons and keep in mind other necessities, which may be known only to them.
An argument could be made economic development is more important to the whole than this school remodel, with this being a contribution, merely a component of that. With no tangible success from the LAIC people are skeptical and rightfully so.
A moderate school plan will be supported, but people are tired of smoke, silly arguments, fear tactics and emotional pleas. These include, but are not limited to: Graduating in their own gym. Playing ball where they practice to increase their chance of winning. Being too tall for the bleachers. Fire hazard death and destruction. And saying the whole remodel is necessary for handicap needs (which was Ashleys' argument). Without a doubt will will have to make reasonable accommodations during any change, but we have no handicapped students at the high school right now. None. I wish this high level of empathy could be used to understand how various elements live within our community, and appreciate their importance. Everyone matters, including those on a fixed income, those with $10 an hour jobs, those struggling to run a business, those commuting to Sioux Falls etc, but instead people believe their perspective is right, rather than looking at the whole community.
Trust your voters!
And be skeptical of people with highly developed communication skills.
{CAH: John! You're killing me here! :-) Actually, you showed some pretty good communication skills in that last paragraph. Hmmm....}
Mike-
You & I have been friends a long time. I have had you photograph my kids, my teams, my kid's teams, etc. You have some strong opinions on this matter and others concerning Madison and our school district.
My questions are simple: what will your tax increase be, and how does an updated/rebuilt school in Madison affect somebody living in Rutland, sending their kids to ORR, and basing a business out of Rutland?
I graduated from Madison. I'm in town almost every day. A strong school and a strong Madison economy does benefit our business, but I like to see the school I attended flourish and the kids excel in whatever they do. Now I don't send tax money to the Madison School District, but I try to support the kids whenever I can. I go to many ORR games but you might see me taking pictures for the paper at MHS games too.
I do apologize if my opinions are over the top.
Linda, I never meant to go after you personally - nor am I in any way supportive of the new gym. I voted against the remodel because of that alone. What I am saying is that you can't run a government, or a family, without income. And you can't have a country without a government. And I believe that EVERY corporation needs to pay taxes, despite their squawking about how it hurts their bottom line. If I were god-empress of the universe, I would long ago have outlawed corporate outsourcing and tax loopholes. Sorry you took it personally. I didn't even realize you were in the discussion.
I never saw the tax impact of the measure recently voted on. Can someone provide it?
The district was figuring about 2 mills per thousand of taxable valuation. The annual payment was figured at about 1.125 million over 25 years.