Since Dr. Wardynski arrived, the district has operated under two sets of rules and according to two standards. Hypocrisy had been normalized here.

• We’ve seen it in response to the rules applied to The Pinnacle Schools with regards to their staff.
• We’ve seen this double standard when we see that the superintendent’s evaluation is written specifically for him while everyone else has to take a standardized test.
• We’ve seen double standards about sexual harassment complaints that are brought against former CSFOs. (Maybe that’s why he resigned? Who knows.)
• We’ve seen double standards concerning filing a grievance against the Superintendent and the Board; they’ll happily receive and address complaints raised about teachers, but complaints raised about the superintendent are summarily dismissed.
• We’ve seen double standards in the hiring policies of senior administrators and teachers where teachers are hired for the state minimum, while superintendents, deputy superintendents and former CSFOs are allowed to set their own salaries.

Double Standards/Hypocrisy Continues

Last Thursday, the double standards continued with the revelation from Ms. Alta Morrison that the Teach for America recruits (TFAers), of which there are approximately forty currently working in the district, received the benefit of a “wonderful reception” at some undisclosed location last Wednesday, September 19th. It seems that Ms. Morrison, Dr. Robinson, and Mr. Blair at least were in attendance. Mr. Birney was not present at the board meeting on the 20th, so we do not know if he attended the reception, and Mrs. McCaulley made no mention of the reception in her comments.

Maybe these receptions are the reason that TFA is so busy asking for your dimes in JC Penney’s?

So what was said about this “reception?”

Ms. Morrison began her comments by telling the community how she was expecting a room full of old, tired teachers, and what she instead saw were “fresh, young teachers who were excited about teaching.”

Honestly, when the one board member who voted against bringing in TFAers is saying how impressed she is with how “young” and “fresh” they are, all hope for our current teachers really is lost.

To her credit, later in the citizens’ comments time, Ms. Morrison revised her comments to say that she didn’t mean to imply that our current teachers weren’t “fresh,” but the damage was long since done.

Dr. Robinson next picked up the TFA banner and ran with it claiming that the TFAers are doing “great things with this new technology!” Implying of course that anyone who claims that there are problems with the system that are completely beyond their control are just “ankle-biters” who don’t really understand teaching.

Once she finished her beatification of the “young, fresh TFAers,” Mr. Blair decided it was time for him to continue the praise of the reception and the TFAers as well.

Seems all you need to do to win a majority of the board’s support is to feed them at a reception.

Shoulda thought of that years ago.

Normalizing The Extreme

Later, Dr. Wardynski added his two cents by claiming that the TFAers aren’t really TFAers anymore. Now, they’re just “our teachers.”

This is an intentional attempt to normalize the use of “teachers” who are not actually trained to be teachers. It’s an attempt to show the district that anyone can teach.

It’s not a gift; it’s not an art; it’s not even a skill that needs to be taught.

In Wardynski’s world, all that’s required to be a teacher is a warm body that doesn’t cost much to keep in the classroom. Teaching can be done by machine; all that’s needed in his system is someone to tell students to push play on their computers screens.

Wardynski Repeats Himself

Dr. Wardynski does not, no matter what he says in emails or editorials, does not appreciate the work of teachers. He doesn’t understand teaching. He doesn’t believe teaching matters. And that’s simple to see when you listen to his goals for the district. He claims that:

Schools are long overdue for that transformation. The American education system, for the most part, is still run the way it was more than 100 years ago, before mankind even flew in an airplane much less in space.

You know, Dr. Wardynski, since you’re sitting at a computer, creating your editorials and emailing them to the paper to publish without comment, don’t you think you could take a minute to google the Wright Brothers first flight? If you did, you would see that “mankind” (nice sexist language there supes) first flew on December 17, 1903, or just shy of 109 years ago.

American Educational Reforms: Full of Sound and Fury

His estimate that education still happens the same way it did 100 years ago is even more inaccurate. If he would bother himself (you know, since he cares so much about education) and take just a few minutes to read any history of education in America, he would find that the only constant in American education over the last century is a maddening race after the Next Big Thing.

But again, Dr. Wardynski’s only real concern is power and control, not education or even being historically accurate.

One final question, Dr. Wardynski: If the TFAers are just “teachers” now, if there isn’t a difference between TFAers and actual teachers, then it should be easy to tell me the last time the district hosted or participated in a formal reception for all of our actual teachers.

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Dr. Wardynski concluded his evidence-free editorial with the statement: “The countdown has begun.” Funny how a launch and a time bomb both have countdowns, isn’t it?

The post Double Standards Continue For Teach For America appeared first on Geek Palaver.

Why is it when a public teacher does something wrong, everyone immediately calls for her (or his) head, but when a private company does the same thing, or usually something far worse, everyone rushes to defend it? This is indeed The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy.

The History

According to Karen Lee, CEO of The Pinnacle Schools, Dr. Wardynski and the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education knew that her sons had been arrested for drug trafficking in December. As reported by WAFF’s Nick Lough, Lee said, “When my sons were arrested I let them [Superintendent/BOE] know and that was before the board vote took place. I let them know immediately what was going on and that this was the situation.” The Board and Superintendent knew and yet yesterday they chose to defend The Pinnacle Schools’ actions.

If you’d like to read the background on how all of this information came to light, please read the excellent Merts Center Monitor blogs on the issue beginning on September 11, 2012: (“The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy,” ”Why Didn’t The Huntsville Times Report That 24 Pounds of Marijuana Were Confiscated December 9, 2011,” “The Pinnacle Debacle: Who Knew What When,” and “Thank You Crystal Bonvillian. Innocent Until Proven Guilty. Nepotism.” If not for this blogger’s work, none of this would have ever come to light, and Eric Lee would still be working as a counselor with Huntsville City Schools students staying at the Elk River facility. I would also recommend reading The Huntsville Times article published yesterday: “Huntsville school officials defend alternative school after owners’ sons face drug charges.”

The arrests occurred on December 9, 2012 a week after Karen Lee made her sales presentation to the board of education on December 1st. (The Times got the date wrong). According to her statement to WAFF, the board of education knew of the arrest “when my sons were arrested.” In other words, they had just under one month between being informed and their next discussion of The Pinnacle Schools agreement to think about the implications of contracting out the district’s students to a private organization. And they did it anyway.

This is a dereliction of duty.

During the board work session on January 5, 2012 concerning the contract with The Pinnacle Schools, the board spent about thirty minutes discussing at length how HCS students would be better served, for less money (even though it actually costs twice as much), by The Pinnacle Schools as opposed to The Seldon Center.

Anyone care to guess what not one person in the board room discussed during the January 5th meeting? That’s right. There was not one mention of the arrests of Lee’s sons, despite the fact that during her presentation she used her son’s troubled youth to sell her services.

The Board and Superintendent’s Response

Mr. Blair is right: It’s often unfair to judge a parent for the actions of her children; however, when the parent sells the district a $1.2 million dollar contract by referring to her sons, well, it seems to me that she is pointedly upholding their actions as a model to follow.

But no one in the boardroom mentioned it.

As Merts Center Monitor points out, either they believed this information “unimportant,” or they “banked on the public not finding out or not caring.” Neither option is good for our schools or our students, is it?

On January 19th, the board met to vote on the contract and spent about another 10 minutes discussing it. Evidently the district added language to the contract that required The Pinnacle Schools to hire “a diverse staff and will be purposeful in recruiting and retaining staff from diverse backgrounds.” I doubt that addition was made to include those with a recent, and as yet unsettled, arrest for drug trafficking, but I could be wrong.

It’s clear that the board and superintendent knew things that I didn’t.

The contract was unanimously approved.

This is the same contract that Blair said was, “carefully” examined by the board. It seems that careful examination doesn’t include the public’s right to know, does it?

The Board And Superintendent Defend Pinnacle

During the months that followed, Eric Lee served as a counselor at the Elk River facility until Thursday afternoon, yes Thursday afternoon. An individual with an unresolved drug trafficking and weapons possessions case was serving as a counselor at a facility designed as the last stop to help students who might themselves have drug abuse, trafficking, or weapons possessions issues (as detailed in Class III – MAJOR OFFENSES in the 2012-2013 Official Student-Parent Handbook).

Perhaps the board thought no one could be better suited to work with “those” kids than someone with an open arrest case?

While I do not know that the board knew that Eric Lee was a counselor working at Elk River, we do now know that they knew he was an employee with The Pinnacle Schools.

They knew, they did nothing to stop it, and they defended it.

This. Is. Wrong.

Why It Matters

So why would any of this matter? The contract is signed. Why should anyone care at this point? Haven’t all of our children done things to embarrass us? Surely, Mr. Blair was right when he said that parents shouldn’t be judged by their kids, right? (And my all time favorite:) This is old news.

Here are a few reasons why this matters, today:

Corporatized Education means that the public, and in particular parents, no longer have any voice in our schools.

From February until Thursday, September 13th, a person with an unresolved felony arrest was actively working as a counselor with Huntsville City Schools students. As Lee told the Times on the 13th, “her son would remain an employee, just as any employee would if they were charged with a crime but had not been convicted.” Perhaps she should have made it a bit clearer by saying, “but had not yet been convicted,” but either way this represents a radical departure from the standards applied to all of our other teachers and counselors in Huntsville City Schools. And that’s the problem.

As I was told on a Facebook discussion yesterday, “Outside groups cannot tell any business how to handle internal issues.” Exactly. Once we subcontract our public education funds to a private business, we no longer have any say over the quality of the education that occurs there. We no longer have any say over the hiring practices/employment policies that occur there. We no longer have any say over what happens in those schools.

And that’s the problem.

These are our children that we’re subjecting to the whims and fancies of a private corporation that seemingly has two concerns: 1. To make a profit, and 2. To make sure her own children have a job.

This matters because the public no longer has a voice in public education.

Eric Lee was actively dealing with his own drug/criminal activity while attempting to “counsel” children.

While it is true that an effective counselor is one who can identify with those whom he/she is counseling, no one is capable of counseling others out of a situation they are in themselves. That’s like trying to tell your neighbor living in a hole how to climb out while you’re stuck yourself.

The Pinnacle Schools claims under their values, “We will never violate the trust placed in us.”

Public School Teachers are held to a higher standard.  

Do you remember Coach Keith Henderson? Coach Henderson was arrested for DUI on August 14, 2011. According to Coach Henderson, he made repeated requests to meet with Dr. Wardynski, and all of those requests were refused. Coach Henderson was fired four days later by the superintendent.

I apologize to Coach Henderson for bringing up this painful time in his life; I’m pleased that he is currently employed by Arab City Schools.

For the record, Coach Henderson was never convicted of the DUI charge.

Why is it okay for our students to be counseled in a private setting by someone with an outstanding drug trafficking charges against him, but if a Huntsville City School employee were facing the same charges, they would be fired nearly immediately?

Why is the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education, which voted unanimously to fire Coach Henderson, now defending The Pinnacle Schools’ decision to keep Eric Lee in the classroom?

This is what having money and connections will buy you in this town: more money and an active and vocal defense when you or your employees do something wrong.

Corporatized education can evidently do no wrong in this town. And it seems from the point of view of our board and superintendent that public teachers can do no right.

What Coach Henderson did was wrong. But if the board and superintendent can defend Eric Lee and The Pinnacle Schools, then they owe Coach Henderson and his family an apology.

Mr. Blair, and the rest of the board of education for whom he spoke on Thursday, should be ashamed.

I don’t believe that Dr. Wardynski has it in him.

And finally, the main reason that this matters:

Because ALL of our students, even those who make mistakes, MATTER.

Dr. Wardynski likes to claim that every student in our district deserves a high-quality education. This incident proves that neither he nor the board actually believe that.

It’s far past time to rid our public schools of those who hate public education. We need to start with the Superintendent and the Board of Education.

The post Why The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy Matters appeared first on Geek Palaver.

Remember back with Dr. Moore was our superintendent? It was an interesting time right there toward the end of her tenure. It was “clear” that Huntsville City Schools was in trouble. It was also clear that the board was looking for nearly anyone to take the blame for that trouble other than themselves.

And yet, at Dr. Moore’s final evaluation, the board gave her a perfect evaluation. Not only that, but at the previous evaluation in 2009 (before everyone was aware of the issues facing the system), she also received, you guessed it, a perfect evaluation.

Strange, don’t you think?

Dr. Robinson thought it was strange as well. In fact, she said as much in May of 2010. She complained that, “if we have an instrument that does not permit us to accurately evaluate the superintendent, I think there’s a problem.”

That’s right, Dr. Robinson, defender extraordinaire of the new Superintendent and all of his work to change the culture of our system by forcing strict evaluation of teachers based on student performance on standardized testing scores, was two years ago complaining about the failure of a standardized test for Dr. Moore.

So she criticizes standardized testing when it doesn’t suit her purpose (to get rid of Dr. Moore), and she specifically volunteers to develop a personalized evaluation test for Dr. Wardynski to convince the city that he is in fact worth, in her words, “every penny.”

Dr. Robinson developed these standards of evaluation specifically for him with specific input from him concerning what and how he should be evaluated.

So let’s follow the logic here for a minute.

• Standardized testing is flawed when it comes to evaluating Dr. Moore. (It was flawed in 2009 and again in 2010 even though nothing was done to change it during the intervening year.)
• Since standardized testing was flawed with Dr. Moore, the evaluation tool we use for Dr. Wardynski must be personalized to him and by him.
• However, Dr. Wardynski’s constant claims that standardized testing is the only way for teachers to know how well their students are performing in the classroom are in no way hypocritical. We should simply realize that like the double standard in hiring and salaries (and bonuses before employees even start), means that there must be a double standard in evaluation of those employees.

So we have two standards when people raise issues about professional misconduct, two standards for complaints about employees, two standards for hiring policies, and two standards for evaluation. Our superintendent has the benefit of having an evaluation that was designed specifically for him. In fact, he had significant input into the method of evaluation that would be used.

If he fails his evaluation, he won’t get an additional $10,000. I’m sure that will be just terrible for him.

If our kids fail their evaluation, they’re marked for life, and their teachers are threatened or fired.

It must be nice to be able to evaluated on your strengths rather than others’ weaknesses.

A “strong leader” leads by example, not by hypocrisy.

The post Standardized Testing For Everyone Except Wardynski appeared first on Geek Palaver.

Back when Dr. Wardynski was still in his honeymoon period, one of the most common phrases used concerning him was, “There’s a new sheriff in town” in reference to the discipline that he was directing toward his faculty and staff. He was a superintendent who was quick, often times too quick as it turned out, to pull the trigger. In rapid succession, teachers and administrators were being told it was time for them to leave. Their services would no longer be needed.

It was my belief then and remains so today that Dr. Wardynski cultivated that reputation intentionally. He wanted his “human capital,” as he liked to refer to them, to be afraid of him.

After all, a demoralized and frightened work force is a compliant work force. They don’t ask questions about policy changes. They don’t ask questions about curriculum shifts. They don’t ask questions about decisions that hurt our kids.

His goal was and is to frighten, berate, intimidate and fire anyone who works for him who dares to ask questions. This is his same approach with those few who don’t work for him who are challenging his decisions. He has implied at least twice (here and here) that I was a liar despite evidence to the contrary. In short, he is quick to respond to complaints about teachers and principals who had the audacity to actually work for our schools before Wardynski was hired.

There are two classes of employees in Huntsville City Schools these days: those hired by Wardynski (along with a few who have seemingly earned his trust) and those who were already working here before he arrived. We’ve already seen that these two classes have different hiring standards. We’ve seen that there is no formal way to lodge a complaint against the board or superintendent. Now we’re seeing that filing a complaint against those brought in by the superintendent will be summarily ignored.

For example, I wonder what would happen if a teacher in Huntsville City Schools had a complaint of harassment brought against him or her? Anyone want to take a bet that that teacher might at least be placed on administrative leave while an investigation followed? How about if a teacher had a sexual harassment complaint brought against him or her?

Anyone think that teacher would need to report to school tomorrow after the holiday?

Anyone?

Nah, me neither.

But just as some are more equal than others in regards to their salaries, it now seems that some are more equal than others in regards to complaints that are leveled against them.

Let’s take a look at what Dr. Wardynski had to say on Thursday night during Bryon Headrick’s Lean Frog presentation on the inefficiencies he discovered in the business practices of the district during the past ten years. At the end of Mr. Headrick’s presentation, Dr. Wardynski offered a seven minute sermon on the importance of “strong leadership,” and the poor educational practices employed in the system during the past ten years.

(No, Dr. Wardynski did not make it clear why following a presentation on poor operational decisions he felt it necessary to preach about poor educational decisions, but more on that later.) You can read my transcript of the entire seven minute speech here.

Near the end of this sermon, when he finally returned to talking about the business practices of the system (you know, the actual subject of Mr. Headrick’s review), Dr. Wardynski had the follow to say:

So on the business side, the measurement, what does that look like in apprehension?

Mr. Spinelli is charged with the business activities of this district. I brought, I recommended him to this board, and this board selected him on my specific recommendation based on his abilities. Um, on any given day, any number of people with apprehension are claiming any number of things. Um, we haven’t got a lot of time for nonsense. The kids need to be well educated. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Uh, my CFO is doing an excellent job, and he has my full support. (Emphasis Added)

Honestly at this point of the evening, I had no idea what Dr. Wardynski was talking about. (Although I did enjoy his Freudian slip where he had to correct himself from saying, “I brought,” to  ”I recommended him to this board . . . .” I’m sure the board appreciated that correction.)

I hear all kinds of rumors about the school system and employees in the system. As someone who is regularly writing about the system, people often come to me with rumors. Only occasionally have I had anything to say about them. My standard mode of operation is to evaluate the validity of the rumor and the importance of the rumor. If I can’t verify it, or if it seems simply frivolous, I ignore it.

I’ve never published anything that I wasn’t able to verify for myself usually several times over. On the occasions where my interpretation may have been wrong, I’ve corrected my mistakes.

I share this with you to say this: I am not aware of any claims concerning Mr. Spinelli. I’ve met him and spoken with him on several occasions. He strikes me as a friendly guy. That there seems to have been people “claiming any number of things” about Mr. Spinelli was news to me.

But if Dr. Wardynski said it in a board meeting, there must be some truth to the idea that there have at least been “any number of people with apprehension . . . claiming any number of things.”

Dr. Wardynski continued his sermon about the business practices in the system:

Um, we will be coming to the board subsequent to this presentation in the coming days with recommendations regarding employees who need to be apprehensive, who have not done their job, who needed to do their job and have cost our children vital years of educational opportunity.

But apprehension will not stop us. Claims of harassment, claims of sexual harassment, all sorts of nonsense, will not stop us from giving our children what they need. And I know our board certainly won’t tolerate it.

Uh, but the apprehension takes many, many forms from missing documents, to calls to the media, to complaints about oversized district overhead and GNA, and so forth. So at this point, I just wanted to draw that out and say, strong leadership is critical because with weak leadership, the rest will fall apart. (Emphasis Added)

So, it would seem that Dr. Wardynski felt it was necessary to offer Mr. Spinelli his “full support” in the face of apprehensive “claims of harassment, claims of sexual harassment, all sorts of nonsense . . . .”

I wonder why he felt this was necessary to say?

It would seem that Dr. Wardynski has received “any number” of complaints about Mr. Spinelli including “claims of harassment” and “claims of sexual harassment” that he considers to be “nonsense.”

Please note, I am not claiming that any of this is true of Mr. Spinelli. I’m only attempting to interpret Dr. Wardynski’s statement. I have no reason to believe that Mr. Spinelli has had any claims of any kind filed against him. I have no reason to believe that if there have been claims filed against him that those claims have any validity.

So why am I bringing this to your attention. One simple reason: Dr. Wardynski is quick to respond to questions of wrongdoing on the part of those he didn’t bring into Huntsville. He is quick to raise questions about teachers who aren’t doing their jobs based on flimsy evidence. He is quick to fire teachers who offer the appearance of wrongdoing.

So why is he quick to dismiss claims brought against his friends from Aurora?

Why is he quick to insist that the board should ignore complaints against his friends from Aurora?

Ask yourself this one simple question: in an environment where fear, intimidation, and at times direct threats to jobs rule the day, where even tenure is no longer a protection, would you bring a frivolous charge of harassment or sexual harassment against the first person that Dr. Wardynski brought into the system?

Strong leadership does not accept double standards. Strong leadership sets a standard and applies that standard to everyone. Dr. Wardynski believes that our teachers should be held to high standards. He believes that our business operations should be held to high standards. But evidently he doesn’t believe that standard should apply to himself when complaints are brought about him. Evidently he doesn’t believe that standard should apply to his friends–people he brought to the system–when complaints are brought about them.

Dr. Wardynski appreciates a plainly spoken phrase (as you can see in his sermon from Thursday night), so I’ve got one for him.

You know what we call having a different standard for yourself and your friends that doesn’t apply to anyone else? We call that hypocrisy, plain and simple hypocrisy.

The post Double Standards For Complaints About “Strong Leaders” appeared first on Geek Palaver.

Please feel free to file this under the “you-couldn’t-make-this-stuff-up-if-you-tried” category.

Before writing my last post about Filing a Grievance with Huntsville City Schools, I verified that the form that I had found and linked to, was the correct form to use when submitting a grievance against the board and superintendent. I was concerned about it because, as Redeye pointed out, this was the same form that is used when a parent wishes to file a grievance against a teacher, or other staff member at a school.

I wondered about that when I asked Mrs. McCaulley about the form after the board meeting and she suggested that I pick one up at the schools, but both she and Dr. Robinson had left me with the impression that there was a form to use when a parent had an issue with a board decision.

In fact, I received an email from Dr. Robinson this morning confirming for me that I was indeed using the correct form and that I should submit this form to Dr. Wardynski.

Except now it’s not. (Really. I told you, I couldn’t make this up.)

Moments after posting my last blog, I received a call from Mrs. McCaulley. She informed me that I had indeed filled the form out correctly, but that she had just realized that the board “does not have a policy for when the citizen concern is really against the board.”

She kindly and generously informed me that the 102-7 Policy is really designed for concerns with a teacher, principal, staff member or assistant superintendent, but that when the concern is with the superintendent or the board that the board does not currently have a policy designed to handle those types of grievances.

She assured me that she would look into developing a procedure to handle grievances against the board and superintendent. I believe that she is genuine in her desire to create this, but I have no faith that it will actually happen.

I have asked Dr. Wardynski to respond to the spirit of the request I have made even though there is no policy at the present time that requires him to do so. Shall I hold my breath?

So, once again, the hoop that I was asked to jump through has been pulled away. Do you ever feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football that Lucy is holding? Cause I do.

The post No Grievance Policy Against the Board or Superintendent appeared first on Geek Palaver.

It would seem that the school system currently has two sets of hiring policies: one for senior administration and a second one for basically everyone else.

This is wrong.

Back in June when the board announced that they had reached a decision and agreement with Dr. Wardynski concerning his contract, I asked two of the board members (two of the three who voted for him), how they could justify paying a man with 11 months experience a salary that was $55,000 over the minimum salary of $120,000 when teachers’ salaries were set at the state minimum. According to the 2010 Superintendent Salaries, Dr. Wardynski is the fourth highest paid superintendent in the state.

Both of these board members separately said the same thing to me: “He’s the best man for the job, and he wouldn’t come for anything less.”

When Dr. Wardynski offered a defense of Mr. Spinelli’s contract, he stated that it was a salary that was “competitive with what it would take to bring in an individual from out of state as well.” Again, when I asked board members about the salary afterwards, I was told, “He’s the best man for the job, and he wouldn’t come for anything less.”

This week when I contacted a board member about the extra $7,000 above the maximum salary being offered to Dr. Cooper, I was, once again, told “she is the best person for the job and she would not have come for less.”

So three new hires from Aurora, Colorado (where the cost of living is estimated to be approximately 11.5% higher than in Huntsville) who collectively earn at least $446,600 a year are all “the best person for the job, and they wouldn’t come for anything less.”

This is an interesting standard, isn’t it? The policy for hiring the three top earning individuals in Huntsville City Schools is two-fold:

• They are the best person for the job.
• They wouldn’t come for anything less.

No one can or would argue with hiring the best person for the job. This is always the goal of every hiring process. A bad hire, according to some HR calculators, can easily cost a 25% premium over the cost of the salary. A bad hire who is offered a multi-year contract is clearly even worse.

My point here is that every new hire for every position at every level needs to always be “the best person for the job.” No one ever sets out to hire the second, third or worst person for the job, right?

So that qualification is universal. (Although it is interesting that the best person for all three jobs in nation-wide searches all came from the same Aurora, Colorado school system, isn’t it?)

However, it’s the second policy that’s truly troubling, for it implies that for some, for a few, all that is required to receive even more than the maximum posted salary is for the board to believe that they will not come for less than a certain amount.

This is not an option for our teachers who are now required to make the state minimum salary. In other words, our teachers’ salaries are competitive with teachers’ salaries in Linden City Schools, a system with 472 students in 2010. (I’m sure that Linden is a fine place, but we have nearly as many students in one of our elementary schools, as they have in their entire system.) It is not an option for our support staff. It is not an option for our Instructional Assistants who are making less than the $10,000 that they made last year.

I wonder what would be said to a teacher who after the interview process were over explained to the HR person seeking to hire her that she just simply could not come for less than seven thousand more than the maximum posted salary?

In fact we don’t have to really wonder, do we?

Neither Madison County Schools, nor Madison City Schools hold their teachers’ salaries to the state minimum.

Oh, and for the record, Madison City’s Superintendent made a mere eight thousand more than our deputy superintendent in 2010. ($149,000.00). Madison County’s Superintendent, who’s system has approximately 4,000 fewer students than Huntsville City’s, made $123,050.00 in 2010.

Huntsville City’s senior administrative personnel have effectively set their own salaries. Our teachers’ salaries are set at the state minimum. As I wrote to the board member who defended the salaries, our hiring practices for our administrators should not be different from the hiring practices for our teachers.

Sadly, it would seem my opinion was not shared by that board member.

The post Double Standards in Hiring: They Wouldn’t Come For Less appeared first on Geek Palaver.