I received this e-mail from a Franklin resident, named Larry. It addresses concerns that were raised with this blog post last week:
Dear School Board Members,
I am sure everyone on the Board
is aware of the article The Racine Journal Times published regarding
salary and benefits in all of the WI school districts.
I am also sure
that everyone from Franklin who read this material “saw the elephant in the
room”.
Comparing salaries and benefits [highest to lowest] of the
superintendents from the Madison District, the Racine Unified District, and MPS,
we see a stark inequity when Franklin’s superintendent shows up as the fourth
highest paid Sup. in the state!
Daniel Nerad (Superintendent of Madison
Metropolitan School District) - $256,498
James Shaw (Superintendent of
Racine Unified School District) - $252,900
William Andrekopoulos
(Superintendent of MPS) - $241,866
Franklin Public Schools Superintendent
Steve Patz - total compensation $236,573.
There is no need to explain the great gulf between
the degree of responsibility in connection with the size of the top three
districts in comparison with Franklin’s. Salaries and benefits should parallel
that criterion. In Franklin's case it doesn't.
Franklin is just not up
to standards in this regard and that is pure waste! That can lead one to
wonder how much more addled governance, that has yet to be uncovered, has cost
the taxpayers.
This demonstration of poor management fuels a narrative.
I will only mention that there are far too many taxpayers in Franklin who are at
their nadir of tolerance concerning the ubiquitous whining coming from “the
masters of supplication” for more tax dollars that are needed for the coffers of
the Franklin School District… along with predictable referendums and what have
you.
I am sure to hear some counter veiling about “how Franklin is
willing to pay top dollar for the “best”. That may apply in connection
with teachers but not superintendents. Teachers make the difference…not
management. This is just more of the "top-heavy management hierarchy syndrome"
WI is noted for and has become accustomed to.
The Franklin Superintendent
of Schools should fall into the same salary and benefits category that is
commensurate with schools of the same size. Period.
It’s time a
comparison analysis is enacted and applied effectively regarding management
wages and benefits in the FPS. Wage freezes seem to be the Rx.
It is not
draconian - just smart and equitable money management.
The Board needs to
abandon vague and open-ended goals and just get things repaired financially and
work with what tax dollars are available. That should be the greatest challenge
of all. Any fool knows how to spend money.
The spirit of what I am
suggesting is to forget all of the grandiose plans and monuments. Start
exhibiting some guts and begin chopping to maintain only what is
necessary for the buildings and grounds. Get into some ingenuity and
creative management to meet these necessary items while not neglecting that
which fairly compensates the crucial and the key members who can make or break
an educational system. I am not talking about superintendents or support
staff…..talk’n about the TEACHERS!
