Incompetence Pays Big If You're In The Public Sector
Diane Rado and Duaa Eldeib write for the Chi Trib that school districts usually pay hefty parting gifts to school leaders -- even if they leave under a cloud:
Stanley Fields resigned after just a year as superintendent of a suburban Cook County school district where he was put on leave, faced with firing and ultimately required to apologize to the community. Still, he walked away with a $100,000 severance payment.He also had prematurely left his prior job, at a Lake County high school district, cashing out $30,426 in unused vacation. The school board waived a $60,000 breach-of-contract payment from Fields, now superintendent in another Chicago-area school district.
Fields' experience illustrates a statewide phenomenon that is costing the public millions in buyout deals worked out in secret by school boards, a Tribune investigation found.
The newspaper's review of more than 100 superintendent contracts, financial records and severance agreements over a decade revealed that boards have handed out six-figure separation checks; district-paid health care; cash or retirement credit for hundreds of sick days; and, in one case, a Mercedes -- all to be rid of superintendents.
The severance packages are fueled by high superintendent and board turnover, fear of lawsuits, and board policies and state laws that boost buyouts -- such as sick days that can accrue to limits uncommon in the private sector, experts said. In many cases, the money funding a buyout could pay one or more annual teacher salaries.
Did you catch this? "Fields, now superintendent in another Chicago-area school district."
And, according to the Trib investigation, even superintendents who work for a short time and resign get the big payouts, and sometimes good recommendations to help them get their next job (even if their performance doesn't merit it).
and sometimes good recommendations to help them get their next job (even if their performance doesn't merit it)
Maybe especially if their performance was lacking. Give a good recomendation, they get the job and move on. You get another chance to find someone a bit more qualified.
Hopefully.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 17, 2011 9:38 AM
When you see certain phrases in a reference letter you know to run the other way:
The problem is the school boards generally never hear the scuttlebutt all the teachers and other staff know, because the teachers have moved from school to school. So the board hires them on a contract, rather than promoting from within with a known quantity.
Then they are now in a bind. But the school board has turned over -- so you don't have the experience of what to look for in the next hire.
But the schools are a public service -- the unions have rigged the system, so the management also rigs the system as well.
Jim P. at July 17, 2011 1:16 PM
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