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Old 06-21-2010, 07:44 AM
 
Location: I think my user name clarifies that.
8,292 posts, read 26,609,853 times
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So the Council Bluffs school board will soon be voting on a contract extension for their Superintendent of Schools. Compensation is not really part of their discussion, but Superintendent Bruckner receives a $202,500 per year salary (benefits are in addition to this).

This is roughly 4 times the average pay of Council Bluffs teachers.

It is not quite double what the school principals earn.


I know that this is typical pay disparity in public schools, and is one of the reasons so many good teachers quit their jobs to move into administration, but this pay structure just bugs me.
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Old 06-21-2010, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Tampa (by way of Omaha)
14,561 posts, read 23,004,438 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks View Post
So the Council Bluffs school board will soon be voting on a contract extension for their Superintendent of Schools. Compensation is not really part of their discussion, but Superintendent Bruckner receives a $202,500 per year salary (benefits are in addition to this).

This is roughly 4 times the average pay of Council Bluffs teachers.

It is not quite double what the school principals earn.


I know that this is typical pay disparity in public schools, and is one of the reasons so many good teachers quit their jobs to move into administration, but this pay structure just bugs me.
That's actually not too bad. I was reading Obama's book last night and one of the things he mentioned in there is that in the private sector, the average CEO to hourly worker pay is something like a 262 to 1 ratio, and even in the early 80's it was about 50 to 1.
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Old 06-21-2010, 12:13 PM
 
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So what?

I expect my company's top guy to be paid a lot. If it was something anyone could do we wouldn't have to pay them well.
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Old 06-21-2010, 02:29 PM
 
Location: Omaha, NE
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He's the superintendent. He should probably, at least in theory, make more than the teachers. I'm not sure about 4 times the amount, but definately more. How do the teachers salaries compare to the school secreatary, or teachers aide?
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Old 06-21-2010, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Michissippi
3,120 posts, read 8,046,597 times
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Originally Posted by Calvinist View Post
So what?

I expect my company's top guy to be paid a lot. If it was something anyone could do we wouldn't have to pay them well.
I suspect that contrary to the claims that CEOs are like superstar athletes that in reality they are actually very fungible and that thousands of eager MBAs would happily take their jobs and could do just as good of a job for less money. However, many of those qualified people just don't have the personal and business connections needed to ever be anointed to one of those positions.
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Old 06-22-2010, 05:53 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Calvinist View Post
So what?

I expect my company's top guy to be paid a lot. If it was something anyone could do we wouldn't have to pay them well.

Good point! If there were paycaps on jobs set by the government people would have less to aspire for. Take away incentive and the brightness of American exceptionalism becomes less bright.
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Old 06-22-2010, 08:22 AM
 
6,484 posts, read 6,603,790 times
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Originally Posted by Bhaalspawn View Post
I suspect that contrary to the claims that CEOs are like superstar athletes that in reality they are actually very fungible and that thousands of eager MBAs would happily take their jobs and could do just as good of a job for less money. However, many of those qualified people just don't have the personal and business connections needed to ever be anointed to one of those positions.
Maybe part of the qualifications are to have those personal and business connections.
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Old 06-22-2010, 09:13 AM
 
Location: I think my user name clarifies that.
8,292 posts, read 26,609,853 times
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Originally Posted by Calvinist View Post
Maybe part of the qualifications are to have those personal and business connections.
Isn't there a difference, though, between privately run businesses and publicly funded entities?

If a for-profit business, such as a car dealership, has salaries to the point they're losing money, they have to cut salaries and/or increase sales, or go broke & close their doors. If they run out of "their own money" they have to quit.

Publicly-funded entities, on the other hand, are spending other people's money. OPS Schools (yes, I know the OP is about a Co Bluffs School) are funded by MY tax dollars, and yours. They don't make money, they spend money.


I believe there SHOULD be a difference in the pay scales of different kinds of companies & businesses.
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Old 06-22-2010, 09:31 AM
 
6,484 posts, read 6,603,790 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks View Post
Isn't there a difference, though, between privately run businesses and publicly funded entities?

If a for-profit business, such as a car dealership, has salaries to the point they're losing money, they have to cut salaries and/or increase sales, or go broke & close their doors. If they run out of "their own money" they have to quit.

Publicly-funded entities, on the other hand, are spending other people's money. OPS Schools (yes, I know the OP is about a Co Bluffs School) are funded by MY tax dollars, and yours. They don't make money, they spend money.


I believe there SHOULD be a difference in the pay scales of different kinds of companies & businesses.
Agreed. But again, a superintendent is a high-level position, and you really only have one of them in a whole school district.

I'm ok with him making 4 x a normal teacher's salary. For a much more common position requiring less experience and education (such as a teacher with a basic 4 year degree), they should make a lot less. Do you really want to skimp on pay to a high position?
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Old 06-22-2010, 09:51 AM
 
Location: I think my user name clarifies that.
8,292 posts, read 26,609,853 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvinist View Post
Agreed. But again, a superintendent is a high-level position, and you really only have one of them in a whole school district.

I'm ok with him making 4 x a normal teacher's salary. For a much more common position requiring less experience and education (such as a teacher with a basic 4 year degree), they should make a lot less.

Do you really want to skimp on pay to a high position?
To clarify... I don't personally care how much anybody makes. Also, I worked very closely with our local school district back when my kids were in school (now I just sit around in my recliner and complain! ).

But here are some things I've observed over the years:
1. I've seen school districts go for anywhere from 1-3 years without any Superintendent, and they survived during that time. Probably didn't thrive, but they did okay. So there are times that I genuinely wonder how valuable that position really is. In some school districts, I wonder if it's more of a figurehead position - a PR person - kind of like the Queen of England.

2. Like it or not, Public Schools have to be good at PR and public perceptions. And, like it or not, your rank & file property tax paying Joe tends to get pretty POd when his taxes & health insurance just went up, and he finds out the next morning that the local school superintendent is making over $200,000. Granted, property tax paying Joe often doesn't realize the education required to become a superintendent, nor the work involved. But he doesn't care. He's just POd.
- And here's where the pinch comes: When the School Board wants to pass a Referendum or Tax Levy, property tax paying Joe - and all his friends - vote NO. They're convinced that any school board stupid enough to pay a superintendent $200,000 per year is wasting money everywhere. The new levy may only cost them $2.00 per month, but they're so ticked off they just vote NO! I have personally seen this happen quite often.

3. Is a superintendent worth 4x the amount of money as a teacher? Personally, I don't think so - though I'll admit that that is personal opinion. Teachers are the ones who are in the trenches, every day, dealing with our kids. They're the ones who are taking the crap from parents. They're the ones grading papers till 10:30 PM 4 nights per week. They're the ones providing the hands-on education.
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