Costly Superintendents
New Scam Hitting School Districts
By Daniel Muniz

The biggest scam hitting school districts (and the taxpayers who fund such boondoggles) is the new wave of scandalously expensive superintendents. This new breed of overpaid administrators tremendously differs from previous bureaucrats. According to a Yahoo news report, John Thompson, a superintendent from Pittsburgh, demanded the following perks for the job to run a dismal school district in Georgia:
 

• $275,000 Annual Salary	• Lincoln Town Car (with driver)
• $2 million Consulting Budget	• Personal Bodyguard

These demands are outrageous. Unfortunately, there are some school districts that go ahead and pay it. In the past, any ordinary bureaucrat could run a school district into the ground with awful test scores, shameful drop out rates, and gross financial mismanagement. Today, a hot shot administrator can accomplish the exact same thing except that taxpayers will have to pay through the nose for identical results.

So what is the cause of these kinds of rip-offs?
 

Story Continues Below ê

Today's Top Stories

● Big Spenders - The Lost Vision of the GOP ● Construction Frenzy - The Bogus Overcrowded School Crisis ● Case Settled? - Global Warming Myths: Part 1 ● Slavery and the Founders - Our Founders were not Ignorant ● Polygraph Exams - Can It Really Detect Lies? ● Leaving the Big City - Millions Flee Metropolitan Areas

Yesterday's Top Stories

● Ending Poverty - Is There a Government Solution? ● Dropout Factories - Schools that Specialize in Dropouts ● MySpace Problems - But What About The Parents? ● Hidden In Plain Sight - Do Sex Offenders Live Nearby? ● Doctors Gone Wild - Hospitals Reinforce Dress Codes ● Poor Minorities - A Collective Moral Responsibility?

For generations, lousy schools could do a terrible job and the public was practically helpless in dealing with it. So what if Johnny cannot read or write, he still got a high school diploma in his hand. And other than the bad headlines, a worthless school district didn’t really have to worry because nobody was going to punish them. After all, this is a monopoly and a bloated government bureaucracy. It’s not as if parents have the option to yank their kids out of these bad schools. Their children are still mandated by law to go to that low performing school.

But when accountability standards originated from Washington DC, such horrendously bad districts now faced the very real prospect of being severely reprimanded. As a result, an incompetent bureaucrat could no longer quietly ruin a school district in relative obscurity because the fallout now had serious repercussions.

All of a sudden, an open position for superintendent would not be swamped with a couple of hundred applications. In fact, a district would be lucky if it got a couple dozen prospects.

The harsh reality is that whoever does get the top slot of a lousy school district will be endlessly demonized, ridiculed, and harassed by various competing interest groups because tough decisions have to be made in order to initiate effective reforms. And if a superintendent really wanted to be successful, then a lot of toes have to be stepped on as well as goring so many sacred cows that are highly cherished by the local community.

So in other words, nobody wants the job if they are going to be tarred and feathered.

The worthless bureaucrat won’t consider it because he or she will be raked over the coals in hellish work conditions. The few remaining bright and competent leaders also don’t want it because the red tape, hypersensitive interest groups, and the very short time span (a few years at the very most) hampers their chance for success.

Accordingly, the economic laws of supply and demand then kick in.

That’s where these high priced administrators come into play. They take a job nobody wants and one that they already know that the employment is temporary in that it won’t last more than a year or two and it definitely won’t go past three years. And they also know that they are going to be slashed and burned by local community leaders and that the press is going to have field day because it loves extremes for its headlines.

So this volatile environment allows them to make big promises in exchange for big bucks.

Sadly, that is the fatal flaw of the situation because all that is going to happen is that the hornet’s nest is going to be stirred with lots of controversies ignited. And even after the big changes are implemented and the clashes make the headlines, the superintendent is not going to be allowed to stick around to see it through. In fact, he or she may not even care how effective the “changes” are because they know that their tenure is going to be ridiculously brief.

The heart of the problem lies with the local community because they want it both ways.

They want high academic standards in which students receive a quality education. But in order to achieve that goal, discipline and a work ethic has to be instituted. However, all that goes out the window if kids have lousy parents because hard work is required. Homework has to be done, assignments turned in, and tests studied for. Children have to be in bed at a certain time every night (from kindergarten through twelfth grade) instead of roaming the streets at all hours of the night. That also means no wild parties, no drinking, no drugs, and not getting pregnant or fathering multiple children.

Next, administrative responsibility has to be instituted. That means no more sweetheart deals for contractors and no more wasted resources. Some teachers and principals have to be fired if they are incompetent. Budgets with frivolous items have to be slashed and campuses with low attendance have to be closed and students transferred. But in many cities, that won’t happen because local community leaders relish the role of wasting money and politicizing their priorities. Efficiency and effectiveness is irrelevant to them and they got plenty of residents to back them up.

In summary, an expensive superintendent is not the answer. Sadly, there really is no answer until the local community and the special interest groups make the fateful decision that children are more important than their own political agendas. That means harshly reprimanding lousy parents, exacting rigorous academic performance, and agreeing to put an end to wasteful spending. Until that happens, bad school districts will continue to get fleeced.

We want your opinion! Tell us what you thought about this article. Click the Your Feedback menu item to send us your comments.