Educational Extravagance, But the Unions Love It
From The New York Post:
"This is an education in extravagance. The Syosset (New York) Central School District, which serves an enclave of gated communities, ritzy eateries and children's boutiques like "Spoiled Rotten," takes the crown in employee compensation.
The school superintendent, Carole Hankin -- who oversees 6,687 kids in 10 schools -- is the highest-paid in the state with $506,322 in total compensation. She collects a $386,868 salary, $67,454 in fringe benefits and $52,000 in retirement funds and expenses including use of a "late model car," plus gas.
"This is an education in extravagance. The Syosset (New York) Central School District, which serves an enclave of gated communities, ritzy eateries and children's boutiques like "Spoiled Rotten," takes the crown in employee compensation.
The school superintendent, Carole Hankin -- who oversees 6,687 kids in 10 schools -- is the highest-paid in the state with $506,322 in total compensation. She collects a $386,868 salary, $67,454 in fringe benefits and $52,000 in retirement funds and expenses including use of a "late model car," plus gas.
By contrast, New York City Chancellor Cathie Black, in charge of 1.1 million students and 1,600 schools, takes home a $250,000 salary, plus health and pension benefits. She gets a driver.
Hankin's deputy superintendent, Jeffrey Streitman, collects $382,382 in salary, benefits and perks. An assistant superintendent gets $238,221. At least 37 other administrators take home $118,000 to $201,000 in salary. Even gym teachers score six figures, one making $145,000.
The Syosset teachers union loves Hankin. Union president Jeffrey Rozran blasted Cuomo in a statement: "Why is he treating her with the disrespect one would expect from an attorney general to an evildoer, instead of the respect due to a valued public servant?" Rozran, who teaches English, makes $129,818."
HT: Steve Bartin
Posted 10:50 PM Post Link 10 Comments
10 Comments:
Why shouldn't they be extravgant in the Syosset Central School District?
They can afford it...
Besides Syosset ranks 8th out of 641 so maybe Carole Hankin is worth the money...
Pay for performance might have Cathie Black taking a pay cut and Carole Hankin getting a raise depending on the measurable.
The unions like the higher wages but this seems to be one of the most highly rated districts in the country. Local control of the schools seems to dictate the spending of $25,990 average per pupil. It looks like a very good private school education in a public setting.
I don't think that Carole Hankin would have similar success in 99% of other districts in the country. Maybe Cathie Black could be hired, at 10% more than NYC schools pay, and have similar results.
It is perfectly fair game to target rich pensions funded on the public dime.
How about federal employeees of the Department of Defense, who can retire with full pension/benefits and lifetime medical coverage, after just 20 years of service?
Several years back, Arthur Andersen called that a $1+ million package--and some guys get it at age 40 or even less.
This comment has been removed by the author.
juandos
"Besides Syosset ranks 8th out of 641 so maybe Carole Hankin is worth the money..."
No disagreement here. Her employers seem to think so. As an influence on performance, however, I tend to believe that in general, hard working and successful students are produced by hardworking and successful parents.
Buddy makes a similar point about the relative value of educators.
syosset ranks 8th out of 641 because the parents of those in school there instill the value of learning into there children.....hankin is a remora on that fact.
It seems that nearly every post on this blog that highlights the failure of public education and the role that teacher's unions play in that failure becomes, to some extent, a discussion of the inadequacy of inner-city kids, their parents or their circumstances. It's not the kids! Kids are amazingly adaptable and will struggle to rise to what is expected of them.
Here are just a few examples of inner-city private and charter schools that have succeeded where the public school system has failed. These schools have succeeded not because they have cherry-picked the highest performing kids, but because they have raised expectations:
Charter School Success in Harlem. Who'd Object?, Carpe Diem
Spitting in the eye of mainstream education, L.A. Times
L.A. charter schools flex their educational muscles, L.A. Times
The Providence Effect
Charter and private schools often provide a better education for a fraction of the price: D.C. Vouchers: Better Results at a QUARTER the Cost, CATO And, unlike unionized public schools, if they fail to perform they can be shut down quickly and the kids redirected to a quality school.
The kids are not the problem, it's the adults.
She Is Dead-
If it is not the kids, why do Asian students always outperform Latino and black kids in the LA city schools, not matter the school--charter, regular, public, etc.
All those lousy teachers perform miracles when they have Asian students.
It starts at home.
Benji
Try this from a 2005 Larry Elder column. You can read the whole article here.
"I have a friend who lives in mid-town Los Angeles. Years ago, he invited me to visit a small library at the corner of Olympic and Vermont, an area between the high-rises of downtown and Koreatown. It is about 70 percent Hispanic and 20 percent Asian. At around four-o'clock in the afternoon, outside the library, several Hispanic kids performed incredible tricks on their skateboards. They were jumping, spinning, twirling and showing off their considerable skills. My friend then said, "C'mon, Larry, let's go inside." Inside the library – standing room only – were Korean-American kids and their mothers. Not one Latino kid inside the library. Not one."
As Che said:
"The kids are not the problem, it's the adults."
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