Overpaid!

You know folks, any pay scale is based on what what someone is willing to pay for a service, and what someone is willing to do for that pay scale.  Heck, sometimes that pay scale is even based on job performance!

Right now the Cleburne ISD administration has an interesting history of utilizing this theory when it comes to Superintendents.  

In case you were not aware, the last Superintendent, a Mr. Miller I believe, decided that he was going to look for employment elsewhere after three years on the job at the head of Cleburne ISD, and as well he should have, considering the state of education at Cleburne ISD, when compared to the rest of the state, has its numbers rattling right around the bottom of the barrel of Texas State Education (there's a good cartoon idea!  I'll start looking at barrel pictures right after this...).  Maybe that's why folks are moving their kids to Joshua and Grandview ISD's when given the opportunity?

At $145,000 base pay per year, plus the $110,000 settlement he received from the school when -HE- decided to leave, at least he hopefully wasn't too stressed about having to make the change.  For all of you who work by the hour, that's a base pay, figuring 2000 hours a year (Did he get summers off? ), of $72.50 an HOUR, not including the $110,000 go away money he got when he decided to leave.   How many of you that are paying taxes that go into the coffers of Cleburne ISD are making $72.50 an hour?  How many of you have a clause in your employment contract that you get most of a years pay for nothing if YOU decide to quit?

Of course, Miller was only replacing Ronny Beard, the previous Cleburne ISD Superintendent who had only been at the helm of the great educational ship Titanic for TWO YEARS before he decided he was done.  Here's a homework assignment for all you folks.  Find out a definitive list of Superintendents for the last 20 or 30 years at Cleburne ISD, and their attendant payscales.  I'll bet you the results will be... illuminating.

Revolving Door?  Well, your administration and school board just swore in Millers replacement here the other day, how much is he getting paid?  What is his accountability?  Is he going to get the equivalent of a nice Ferrari sports car, or a new house, or a Presidential golf vacation, when HE decides to leave?  Unlike the Federal Reserve (even thought there is nothing Federal, and certainly nothing pertaining to keeping a Reserve about it!), which can just print up money as it needs it, YOU guys don't have that option.  So, this is REAL money your administration and school board are handing to these guys.

Let's talk about pay scales..

A Colonel in the U.S. Army brings down about $70,000 a year.  This is a guy with hundreds of people in his sphere of responsibility, millions ( or billions ) of dollars in hardware he's responsible for, and, oh yeah, he's supposed to command this marching, flying, rolling, pile of infrastructure while being SHOT AT in a COMBAT ZONE.  But.. he's only worth $70,000 a year.  That's ok, though, because really, who goes into the army to make the big bucks, right?

What about a modern machinist in manufacturing, who is just as much computer programmer as machinist, working for auto and plane manufacturers, whereby if he makes a mistake millions of dollars can be lost and future lives may be at stake in the product he's building that may be in service for decades?  $50k to $80k a year.  Eh, I'm sure that years of experience and on the job training could be picked up by just anybody..

General Practioner M.D.? Aha!  There's a guy who's bringing in $140k to $200k a year, saving lives, improving quality of life for all he works with.. of course, most of that is going to his college loans, but hey, he's worth every dollar if he's the guy who saves your butt from that word 'terminal'.

How much is a good Superintendent worth?  How do you value the position?  In most work environments, job performance impacts pay.  That Army Colonel?  If he does a bad job, well, best case, the treads come off the tanks, but worst case, he and everyone he works with is... DEAD.  There's motivation to do a good job for ya!  My opinion?  I'll bet if a person makes it to the rank of Colonel, they got there through excellent job performance.   Modern machinist?  Millions of dollars at stake on a job?  Yeah, job performance makes a difference in his pay!  How about your doctor?

Here is where you really test the value of your Superintendent.  If your doctor, ten years down the road, a young M.D. fresh out of medical school, tells you he graduated from Cleburne High School, do you stay in the room?  or do you go get a second opinion?

Here's a thought.  Maybe the Superintendent should be held ACCOUNTABLE for his job performance!  Of course, that is difficult when you guys change superintendents more than some banana republics change dictators, but still, that would be something to work on.  And paying these guys 6 times the local median wage, and then perks on top of that?  C'mon.  If you can't find someone who can do the job for only, say, THREE times the local median wage, maybe your guy shouldn't be in the hot seat because he can't budget or use a checkbook.  

Final thought... there are kids in countries like.. India, for example, that are going to school where the school is.. a wall.. and the kids are sitting on the ground.  And yet, those guys are kicking our kids butts at math and science, and becoming our doctors and scientists when they grow up.   Why is that?   Do you think THEIR Superintendents are making a base pay of $145k a year?  Or, if your superintendent was paid (assuming they stick around!) on the current level of success in Cleburne compared to the rest of the state, would the superintendent have a second job flipping burgers along with his students because he needed the extra income?

Start attending those school board meetings folks! It is YOUR money they are spending, and YOUR kids they are educating (or not!).