…or Why Chariho Costs So Much!
Apparently the Chariho Middle School has hired a new assistant principal. According to the Westerly Sun (July 20) her name is Karen Swoboda. Her starting salary is $90,443.
All I can say is holy crap! $90,000 to be an assistant principal of a middle school? I consider that a remarkable salary for an assistant school administrative position.
If you check the web you will find various numbers for middle school assistant principals. Obviously, regional differences and cost of living will impact the numbers but no one else appears to be paying this much for this job:
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-Assistant+Principal+Middle+School/l-Boston%2C+MA
http://www.wcpss.net/salary-schedules/assistant-principals/middle-traditional.html
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_ED03000268.html
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2001/inf178i.pdf
Salaries for an assistant principal of a middle school seem to be between $50 and $70K. Why are we paying so much? Our students are no better prepared that any others in Rhode Island or anywhere else. So I ask again, why do we pay a premium for administrators (who do not teach) and assistant principals who handle discipline?
Do you know who else makes $90,000? Examining the list of salary data for URI, compiled by Common Cause of Rhode Island in 2004, Frances Cohen, Dean of Students, responsible for University-wide student discipline made $83,000 in 2004. She probably makes about $90K now. URI has 15,000 students? Cohen, effectively an assistant principal, makes about $6 per student (ages 17-25). Swoboda will make $90 per student (ages 10-15). Something is very badly wrong here.
Is disassembling the district the only way to fix the salary insanity?
July 20, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Disassembling of the district isn’t the way to fix the salary insanity. Removing school committee members with ties to the school district is perhaps a better way of accomplishing what needs to be done. Andy P. and Bill Day are just two examples. Unfortunatly, Bill Day is running unopposed for his seat and Andy P. is not up for reelection. Our only answer is then is to try to elect those who are not somehow connected to Chariho but how do we find out who has connections prior to the upcoming election.
July 20, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I agree, however, how do you go about taking away a $90,000 salary once you have given it? Sure, you can raise insurance copays and cut raises, but those are marginal efforts. Can you go in and say, “Assistant Principal Swoboda, in the next iteration of your contract, you will be making $65,000. You will be taking a 30% pay cut. Take it or leave it.” And it’s not only her, what about every other administrator in the district? I guess it is theoretically possible, if they choose to leave you replace them with new hires but I have never seen or heard of it being done in local, state or federal government. And what if they stay? How much effort do you think you’ll get from that person? The worst case scenario is actually probably that they DO stay.
So although I say “disassembling the district” a bit tongue-in-cheek, I wonder if it is not a reasonable way to cut all these bloated salaries. Not that I think any of us can then actually afford our own school systems….
July 21, 2008 at 3:16 am
Here’s another site for your perspective:
http://www.payscale.com/af/calc.aspx?src=SH1&job=Assistant+Principal+Middle+School&city=Providence&state=RI
July 21, 2008 at 3:17 am
Sorry, meant to say from another’s perspective.
July 21, 2008 at 3:25 am
http://cspf.awardspace.com/2008_chariho_budget_.htm
click on salaries, then scroll down to Principals, Vice Principals
You can compare salaries here.
July 21, 2008 at 8:48 am
As I’m sure you know, pay cuts happen in private sector jobs. No reason they can’t be done in the school district. One way is to get rid of those on the school committee members who have connections to Chariho employees or any of the unions that represent employees. I, too, feel that none of the towns can afford our own school systems. It’s really up to the voters and the voters in the district need to wake up and start realizing what the school committee is doing to us.
July 21, 2008 at 11:29 am
Mrs. Buck, all I can say is: Wow! It looks like the average Chariho teacher salary is in the $70K area? Even to teach kindergarten. That is incredible. Am I wrong in saying that we have unusually high paid teachers or are these amounts average? I do not think so.
July 21, 2008 at 1:12 pm
They are probably a bit higher than avg for the state as a whole but then again, the state is known for having highly paid teachers… unfortutunatly, we don’t get good results for what we pay the teachers.
July 21, 2008 at 1:15 pm
If found this but it’s from 2005:
http://www.teacher-world.com/statespages/Rhode%20Island.html
August 29, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Not only are our students “no better prepared” then anywhere else, they are LESS prepared then many others!