| The coincidences between the protests taking place in Egypt and the outrage over the state of public education in our city are down right eerie. Think about it...they (the Egyptians) are marching by the tens of thousands in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, facing tear gas, rubber bullets and clubbing to bring down a corrupt dictator who masquerades as a caring, benevolent leader. At the same time, we, also in the city of Alexandria, want to topple the scheming, conniving head of our school system. And like our Egyptian counterparts, we citizens, parents and teachers alike are willing to risk...uh, never mind. Somewhere along the line, someone made the decision that Alexandria's school superintendent, like Hosny Mubarak, would be allowed to make himself rich on the backs of hardworking taxpayers. The question is--why? What is it that Mort Sherman does that merits a quarter of a million dollar annual salary? Forget the perks...the fringe benefits and the car,...we are talking a quarter of a million dollars a year simply in base salary ($240K) plus his TSA/Deferred Compensation. Let's put this in perspective, shall we? Mort earns $76,000 more than members of Congress. Mort earns nearly $20,000 more than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Firefighters in our fair city start at $29,000 and top out at $138,800. And I've seen them make a positive difference in Alexandria! But wait, you say, Dr. Sherman is responsible for more than 11,000 students...isn't that degree of responsibility, the safety, nurturing and education of our young people worthy of a salary commensurate with such a duty? Let's be fair, you cry, and measure our Mort against those similarly situated, i.e. superintendents. Okay, how about the superintendent of neighboring Arlington. With a population almost twice ours, the super there pulls down only $195,000. What about Richmond...challenging, inner city population, twice that of Alexandria? How does $170,000 grab you. And the real inequity of these comparisons is that Arlington and Richmond have, by all accounts, great superintendents. Sherman is paid obscene amounts for failing the students and parents of this city. Of course, there are the intangibles that the Doctor delivers. If not for Mort, who would give the blessing at the annual school board/superintendent retreat dinner (play following link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTaFkahld50 Who among us is prepared to show even a fraction of the courage of the citizens of our sister city and reveal Sherman for the snake oil salesman that he is? "It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong." — Voltaire |
Monday, January 31, 2011
Some questions just have to be asked...
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Great Work. This is so true. Wake Up City of Alexandria!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe taxpayers of Alexandria are once again footing the bill for one of the Superintendent's poorly planned proposals, this time to the tune of $2,000,000. This may not seem like much is an operating budget of $210,000,000, but there are ways this $2,000,000 could be more effectively allocated within Alexandria's school system. $2,000,000 could fund a number of new teaching positions (which the district will need as it projects a population of over 15,000 students in the coming years). $2,000,000 could be applied directly to classroom resources to aid student learning. $2,000,000 could be diverted to the Capital Improvement Plan budget to address antiquated buildings in need of immediate repair. Or $2,000,000 could be saved and used at a time when our city is not facing a financial crisis. Instead, Alexandria's Superintendent wants to spend $2,000,000 of city money to increase teacher work time in order to, among other things "study the additional use of school time for students." Now that is a novel idea: using time to study time, on the taxpayer's dollar.
ReplyDeleteThe Superintendent insists that this use of taxpayer money is a wise public investment and the $2,000,000 will fairly compensate Alexandria's teachers who the Superintendent refers to as "remarkable professionals." To be fair to those professionals, examine what that $2,000,000 figure really amounts to. If all of the $2,000,000 were distributed equally among 1600 employees (which wouldn't occur) each professional would receive $1,250. Take that $1,250 and subtract $888 (being generous to the proposal as this is the lowest daily step salary for ACPS employees) for daily pay for the 4 additional work days added to the 2011-2012 school calendar (another part of this proposal) and each professional is left with $362. Divide that $362 by the proposed teacher calendar of 196 work days and each professional is paid roughly $1.85 each day for their 30 minutes of extra work. Double that to get an hourly wage, and you see that Alexandria's Superintendent expects the "remarkable professionals" of ACPS to work for about $3.70 per hour. This is neither remarkable nor professional, it is shameful.
Support our teachers, protect our limited city finances, and demand that the School Board oppose this shameful proposal.
Bravo! Love the comparison and it even can be related to the SOLs!
ReplyDeleteHe makes $76,000 more than a Member of Congress! I did not know this and now that I do, I'm disgusted! A MOC is responsible for the interests of close to 600,000 people. Mort can't even do that for 11,000 students and he's raking in the bucks. $240,000 a year base can buy a lot of Greyhound bus tickets! Hell, it could buy a rented Lear jet out of town.
ReplyDeleteA real leader wouldn't have taken the full pay without showing results first. I guess he took "show me the money" over "show me the achievement."
All the data he is sending out to the public is spun to fit his agenda and make it look like he is doing his teachers a favor. It doesn't say that all the money we have received from our 1/2 step raises was taken right back by health-care and pension funds. Does he not think his teachers don't already work 30 mins plus after our contract hours to attend meetings, look at data, create assessments, and plan! Really, he needs a reality check! He sure has the city fooled.
ReplyDeleteWork 30 minutes over contract? I know a few ACPS teachers who are still working at 10 and 11 at night because they can't finish everything they have to do during the day. The increased demands on teachers to complete paperwork and deal with the bureaucracy is insane. By the time contract time is over, they've hardly been able to instruct their students during the day and have to do all of the classroom work at home.
ReplyDeleteI know lawyers who don't work as hard and get 3x the pay. All the while Mort sits fat and happy with a $250k salary.
Mort is not the only person getting great benefits and perks. He has directly approved, for certain executive staff, the payout of health insurance premiums. For those who have no need for health insurance with ACPS, because they have health insurance provided by a spouse or the military. Therefore, the premiums that ACPS would have paid for insurance, is paid to the employee in their annual salary.
ReplyDeleteDoing a little math:
ReplyDeleteSherman makes 19% more than the Arlington superintendent and 29% more than the Richmond superintendent
After searching the web for average teacher salaries in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, and Richmond, here's what I found:
Alexandria $67,000
Arlington $67,000
Fairfax County $66,000
Richmond $54,000
Source: http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Teacher-l-Arlington,-VA.html
In late 2010, the ACPS School Board voted to raise the annual contribution to Dr. Sherman's retirement plan by $17,000 with little fan fare and no public discussion amongst themselves or city constituents. Agenda topic proposed, money amount stated, vote taken, gavel fell. Oh, that it would be so nice for you.
ReplyDeleteI am told the School Board used the back door method to pat him on his performance back, because his salary contract is, well, based on "school performance", and we all know how that has been going. :((
I do believe more and more in Alexandria are frustrated by how our School Board is a rubber stamping one. It's shameful.
Thank you, teachers, for your dedication to our ACPS students, and please keep hope alive that teachers will receive their due, both financially and by being listened to.
It is clear teachers are getting a pay cut next year. It is offensive that Sherman sees teachers as so stupid that they cannot figure that out. Inspirational leaders lead by example. If Sherman was remotely inspirational, he would be the first one to take the pay cut. In fact, he could say that he would only take $50000/year until all Alexandria students were achieving at a high level. And, he could extend that to all administrators. Hell will freeze over before that happens. Despite what his gargantuan ego tells him, Mort Sherman is no inspirational leader.
ReplyDeleteI just wish to comment on a recent article from the Alexandria Gazette Packet newspaper. In the article it spoke of Dr. Sherman’s disdain for teachers and his “my way or hit the highway” attitude. Well, I know all too well what that meeting must have felt like because the teachers at Cora Kelly Elementary school experience exactly the same. In a recent staff meeting the principal, Brandon Davis, gave the teachers at the meeting precisely the same ultimatum. After a heated exchange with a teacher during the meeting he said, “If you don’t like the way I do things at this school then you need to find another school or school district.” We sat there horrified as he berated and threatened to seek and destroy the 20% of teachers that have what he labeled a “Pre Davis Mentality.”
ReplyDeleteToo many times we have witnessed his erratic and highly emotional behavior that he uses to intimidate and bully faculty and staff members. It appears these tactics have the blessings from the superintendent, Dr. Sherman, since Mr. Davis constantly reminds us that he and Dr. Sherman are in complete agreement on how Mr. Davis manages his staff. The tension and hostile working conditions at Cora Kelly are almost unbearable. The wariness is further exacerbated by the assistant principal, Timothy Grasso, who mimics Brandon‘s dictatorship management style. One only needs to enter the main office and view the unfriendly, stressed out expressions on the faces on the support staff to understand the tone set by the administrators.
Yes, Cora Kelly does have its unique share of problems among elementary schools in Alexandria. The school must currently adhere to a strict set of guidelines under a “school improvement plan.” This is the second year that the school has failed to meet its “Adequate Yearly Progress”(AYP) as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. I completely agree that the entire faculty, staff, and community should be held accountable for the success of each student. I do; however, disagree with the bullying, and intentional abuse of power as demonstrated by Messieurs Sherman and Davis.
Teaches at Cora Kelly are frightened to speak out, and fear of retribution is real and has been experienced by those few brave individuals who have complained.
The Emperor has no clothes... All talk, all ego, all self promotion, no substance.
ReplyDeleteHow naive can the school board be? The Key Bridge is for sale. Perhaps they will buy this since they buy all the fluff and stuff being sold by Sherman.
The first time I heard him in a faculty meeting, I said he is "The Wizard of Oz." Big ideas with no plan to implement them. I wish the School Board would wise up.
ReplyDelete