Spotlight on District 109

Things are good in District 109.  The budget is balanced.   We’ve launched a flurry of activity in support of the new Superintendent.   Search firms have been retained.  Parent and community concerns are being ignored.  All in all, business as usual.

The 2012-2013 administrator contracts were just released.  You may remember one of my posts a few months ago praising the Board for freezing 2011-2012 administrator salaries (for the most part) as they also froze teacher salaries.  As you remember, the teachers negotiated a 3.75 – 4.0% step increase which starts this year.

At the Director level, the average raise was 6%.  However, this includes two individuals who got whopping 12% raises.  Wow!  At the principal level, the average raise was about 5%.  At the Assistant Principal level, the average was 6%, with one returning AP getting an 8% raise.

Are these fair raises?  I’ll leave that to you to decide.  I’ve not delved into the fringe benefits received by administrators lately but I have little reason to believe that anything has changed.  I’m sure paid-for healthcare, PhD tuition, and gas for their cars is still the norm.

So, other than this “spotlight” there really is no spotlight on District 109 anymore.  The ugliness of the teacher negotiation fades into the sunset and we are all ready for a fresh new school year.  Board members defiantly defend their turf, as in the last meeting when Ms. Muller said that she would do the job she was elected to do regardless of community concerns.  Consultants will be paid thousands of dollars for producing recommendations that the Board will not adopt.  And yes, of course, there WILL be parent “focus groups” so that the district can continue to pretend to value our input.  Where do I sign up?

I sincerely hope the parents of the district will not stop bringing their concerns to the Board and Administration.  I know it’s easy to quit when you feel that you’re banging your head against a wall but we must keep the pressure on.  Special Education in particular must be brought up to standards.

I am also encouraged by the interest people have shown in running for the Board of Education.  We need a conversation and debate about what has been done and what should be done in the future.  Current Board members running for re-election will have some explaining to do and new candidates will have to put forth their plans to improve the district.  Incumbents will no longer be able to fly under the radar unopposed.  Everyone will be in the “spotlight”.