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Posts Tagged ‘San Diego City Schools’
Pay cut proposed for SDUSD Teachers and other staff. What about the bureaucrats?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/23/sd-teachers-asked-take-pay-reduction/
“Teachers and other San Diego school employees could take pay cuts next year of up to 8 percent to help offset a projected $93 million deficit, under a proposal presented to labor groups this week.”
Let’s look at this proposal. First of all, I’d like to know if the district has already made fiscal changes to their Cadillac benefit package (See my previous post about this- http://sdrostra.com/?p=2570. Also take a look at-http://sdrostra.com/?p=753). The district has one of the best benefit packages around; this includes 2 bonus checks during the year (If you can, please name some other government agency that has such a sweet plan). This kind of benefit package is unrealistic, but don’t blame the unions for it-blame the bureaucrats and board of education that approved it (I’m not aware of anyone holding a gun to their heads to force them to sign).
San Diego Unified School District and administrative leave for bureaucrats
It was recently brought to my attention that the Director of Transportation for San Diego Unified School District, who had been on administrative leave for over 3 months while the District investigated charges against her, was recently terminated but after being paid a settlement not to sue the District.
Okay, maybe I need to be slapped, but if the District thought that after their investigation, that there was enough evidence to prove their case, why did they pay her off? I wonder if it was more of a “Golden Handshake” kind of payoff. Apparently the School District can do this kind of thing, no matter if they are facing a 100 million deficit.
Pay cut for high level government bureaucrats? Yes and it is happening!
“The KHSD Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet in closed session with labor negotiators Monday to discuss compensation reductions for each member of the district superintendency for 2010-2011.”
So why not in San Diego? Also, take away their car allowances. When you make as much money as some of these bureaucrats, why is there a need for a car allowance?
In this era of supposedly “extreme” government belt tightening, I would hope that San Diego cuts at the top first and reduces their benefit packages too. Every cent does matter.
Ah San Diego Unified. The school district that claims it will have a $100 million deficit, but still can justify the need to send their bureaucrats all over the nation for various conferences. If the district really cared about the deficit, they would say “no more free ride” to these conferences. If these bureaucrats want to attend, let them-give them leave for their time off to attend, but the district should not be paying their way. If the District really cared about the students, instead of paying for these conferences, direct the money to the CLASSROOM. While I’m pretty sure that all of these conferences that bureaucrats attend are good, the problem is that it is rarely a TEACHER that is attending. It is always a bureaucrat/administrator. Once again, the money needs to be going to the classroom. The School District is not wisely spending our tax dollars. Things are tight. Conferences need to be cut out of the budget.
So I wonder how much the District is spending to send transportation bureaucrats to the “National Association for Pupil Transportation” in Kentucky at the end of this month. Remember that this is the District that has soooooo much money that it can charge zero for transportation and send several bureacrats to this conference.
Once again San Diego Unified School District is predicting $100 million deficit. Possible solutions.
Here are some very simple ways that they can save money and get more in line with other school districts in the county.
4th and 5th graders go to Old Town and Balboa Park for a week. They learn about old California and about the museums. Yes, they are great programs, but why is SDUSD the only district in the county that offers these special programs?? Where do they get the funds to pay for it? CUT it, but keep the 6th grade Outdoor Camp program. Why? Outdoor education is needed. Other districts have it too.
Free Bus Transportation??. Why doesn’t SDUSD charge for any of their transportation services (Of course I’m talking about non special ed)? Other Districts charge, which includes using a financial sliding scale. Where does SDUSD get the money to pay for the many children that they transport? This sliding scale could also be used for their “6 to 6” program. On a side note here, I once asked several school board members from a nearby school district how SDUSD can have free transportation, while their district charges. I was told by those several members that they wouldn’t be surprised if SDUSD moves money around and that someday this moving of money is going to come back and haunt SDUSD.
Their medical/dental benefit package. They have the “Cadillac” of plans. Unless they want to pay a token amount for the better San Diego City Schools Dental plan, employees pay ZERO. Most other Districts and government agencies charge their employees for part of their coverage.
Bureaucrats. Why is there so many? They create new programs and then they stay and stay. Before getting rid of teachers, the District should hire an excellent management consultant and actually follow the consultant’s advice for a change and cut their layers of bureaucrats.
SDUSD needs NEW blood in its management. They need YOUNGER outsiders with fresh ideas and solutions. Promoting the “good old boy” network is a big problem with SDUSD. These “good old boys” think the same as the managers they replaced. They also believe that they were due the promotion because of their years of service with the district. That kind of thinking has kept the District in the mess they are in. NEW, YOUNGER and OUTSIDE blood is needed.
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