I appreciate the Folio writing about Rick Scott’s disaster of an education plan, which boils down to welfare for the well off. Strangely the local media especially the Times Union has been silent on the issue. So silent I can’t help but wonder if after not endorsing him they have decided it’s better to join him. They have already joined him in discounting teachers influence on education.
One thing I wish the Folio would have also mentioned is the makeup of his 23-person education team. There, for profit charter schools, which would directly benefit from the new education voucher program, businesses and even carpet-baggers (controversial former Washington D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee) are represented. Sadly the one group left in the cold is teachers. Scott actualy has one on his team though he teaches at a virtual school. So much for working together with all the partners involved in education.
Disappointingly that’s the norm when assembling groups to talk about education. The aforementioned Times Union’s City of Hope steering committee also has no actual classroom teachers. Can you imagine a group assembled to talk about medical issues but didn’t include doctors or legal issues that didn’t include the police, well Rick Scott and the Times Union can.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Showing posts with label the folio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the folio. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
A Brickbat for the Folio
Up is down, black is white, dogs are playing with cats, people are jumping on the furniture and the Folio gave Duval County School Superintendant Ed Pratt-Dannals a bouquet. That’s to say things are all mixed up. The Folio bestowed the ceremonial honor to the superintendant because he turned down a raise and 20 thousand dollars in cell phone and car allowances.
If you didn’t know it the superintendants base salary is 270 thousand with his total compensation approaching 330 thousand dollars. Looking just at salary, his is almost a hundred thousand more than the mayor and he makes almost the equivalent of Clay and St. Johns counties school superintendants combined. Which begs the question why had he been getting a cell phone and car allowance anyways? You would think he could have afforded them already on his quarter million dollar plus salary.
Likewise did you know that when he went from assistant superintendant to superintendant he received an over one hundred thousand dollar or about a 67% percent raise (he was already making well over 100k) a far cry from the less than one percent raise most teachers typical receive with their step increases, a raise by the way that the superintendant sought to deny them earlier this year when he declared financial urgency.
What’s next Folio? How are you going to reward the fact he has gutted discipline, destroyed teacher morale, further eroded the teaching of the trades and arts and despite his claims otherwise made no appreciable improvement to the district, in fact many think our problems have gotten much worse, in his nearly three years of stewardship; a man of the year award perhaps or how about a parade?
Here is a Brickbat for you Folio.
If you didn’t know it the superintendants base salary is 270 thousand with his total compensation approaching 330 thousand dollars. Looking just at salary, his is almost a hundred thousand more than the mayor and he makes almost the equivalent of Clay and St. Johns counties school superintendants combined. Which begs the question why had he been getting a cell phone and car allowance anyways? You would think he could have afforded them already on his quarter million dollar plus salary.
Likewise did you know that when he went from assistant superintendant to superintendant he received an over one hundred thousand dollar or about a 67% percent raise (he was already making well over 100k) a far cry from the less than one percent raise most teachers typical receive with their step increases, a raise by the way that the superintendant sought to deny them earlier this year when he declared financial urgency.
What’s next Folio? How are you going to reward the fact he has gutted discipline, destroyed teacher morale, further eroded the teaching of the trades and arts and despite his claims otherwise made no appreciable improvement to the district, in fact many think our problems have gotten much worse, in his nearly three years of stewardship; a man of the year award perhaps or how about a parade?
Here is a Brickbat for you Folio.
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