What district needs all of those administrators? I can't even begin to guess what all of those folks do. Start cutting at the top, don't even consider the cuts on the backs of our teachers. When I taught in D65 I was floored to learned how much more D202 teachers were paid and coming from a different state, I was totally baffled why one …
What district needs all of those administrators? I can't even begin to guess what all of those folks do. Start cutting at the top, don't even consider the cuts on the backs of our teachers. When I taught in D65 I was floored to learned how much more D202 teachers were paid and coming from a different state, I was totally baffled why one town had two districts. Here's yet another sad story of how D65 wastes money...last school year, 2023-24, a teacher I know was granted a sabbatical to live/study in another country while getting paid by the district; then upon return was riffed! None of the great knowledge learned while away was used in the district. We paid the teacher an entire year's salary to live/learn in another country and got nothing in return. I would bet there are more stories like this one out there, so we shouldn't be too surprised we are were we are today. What a joke and the teachers are getting a measly raise while top admin are sitting pretty. When will this madness end.
There was a quote in the Roundtable from one of the board members about how valuable every employee is - regardless of how far they removed they are from students. As a recently retired teacher: No. No, many of the highly-paid staff at JEH are NOT valuable. They've already begun cutting resources for teachers this year, making differentiation much more difficult for teachers, esp. SPED teachers. Families want high-quality teachers and teacher retention? It's only going to get worse.
Biz is full of shit. She went out of her way to make that remark because she is trying to mitigate the criticism that will most deservedly come her (and the Board’s) way because this ostentatious display of JEH salary sits squarely at her feet. They hired the con man in secret. They paved the way with gold bricks for him to do whatever he wanted and hire whomever he wanted. We are stuck with the current super because he hired her (when CPS won’t?!?!) and she returns the nepotism favor by hiring her sister! When exactly WILL this madness end? This is a tale that if you switched the names to Trump and his kids and changed a few details, it would all ring very true. That’s why I am constantly flummoxed as to why it is happening here. Let me be clear: NOT ALL District employees are valuable. And I know of several current volunteers who are for sure not, too!
And let's not forget that before Biz was a consultant, she was....an administrator. At NU's Women's Center. So, not super surprising that she perceives great value in the layer of admin folks residing at the JEH. As someone who formerly worked as an administrator at NU myself, I can attest that while we certainly made some useful contributions, our impact on the students' education didn't come anywhere close to that of the professors in the classroom.
Do we have any sense for how this list of jobs (and salaries) compares to neighboring districts that are of about the same size? It would be interesting/useful to find a district that isn't in distress (which is about the same size) use their admin structures as a blueprint.
I don't have an answer to this but the data is available. We should determine what comp districts to Evanston are: similar size of enrollment, per cap funding, % free lunch and % special ed students. Trying to think off my head - maybe Oak Park or Forest Park? Both of those have similar problems to D65 right now, though..
What district needs all of those administrators? I can't even begin to guess what all of those folks do. Start cutting at the top, don't even consider the cuts on the backs of our teachers. When I taught in D65 I was floored to learned how much more D202 teachers were paid and coming from a different state, I was totally baffled why one town had two districts. Here's yet another sad story of how D65 wastes money...last school year, 2023-24, a teacher I know was granted a sabbatical to live/study in another country while getting paid by the district; then upon return was riffed! None of the great knowledge learned while away was used in the district. We paid the teacher an entire year's salary to live/learn in another country and got nothing in return. I would bet there are more stories like this one out there, so we shouldn't be too surprised we are were we are today. What a joke and the teachers are getting a measly raise while top admin are sitting pretty. When will this madness end.
There was a quote in the Roundtable from one of the board members about how valuable every employee is - regardless of how far they removed they are from students. As a recently retired teacher: No. No, many of the highly-paid staff at JEH are NOT valuable. They've already begun cutting resources for teachers this year, making differentiation much more difficult for teachers, esp. SPED teachers. Families want high-quality teachers and teacher retention? It's only going to get worse.
Biz is full of shit. She went out of her way to make that remark because she is trying to mitigate the criticism that will most deservedly come her (and the Board’s) way because this ostentatious display of JEH salary sits squarely at her feet. They hired the con man in secret. They paved the way with gold bricks for him to do whatever he wanted and hire whomever he wanted. We are stuck with the current super because he hired her (when CPS won’t?!?!) and she returns the nepotism favor by hiring her sister! When exactly WILL this madness end? This is a tale that if you switched the names to Trump and his kids and changed a few details, it would all ring very true. That’s why I am constantly flummoxed as to why it is happening here. Let me be clear: NOT ALL District employees are valuable. And I know of several current volunteers who are for sure not, too!
I was at the school board meeting last night, and that was Biz that made that remark. It was infuriating then. And it still is now.
And let's not forget that before Biz was a consultant, she was....an administrator. At NU's Women's Center. So, not super surprising that she perceives great value in the layer of admin folks residing at the JEH. As someone who formerly worked as an administrator at NU myself, I can attest that while we certainly made some useful contributions, our impact on the students' education didn't come anywhere close to that of the professors in the classroom.
Do we have any sense for how this list of jobs (and salaries) compares to neighboring districts that are of about the same size? It would be interesting/useful to find a district that isn't in distress (which is about the same size) use their admin structures as a blueprint.
I don't have an answer to this but the data is available. We should determine what comp districts to Evanston are: similar size of enrollment, per cap funding, % free lunch and % special ed students. Trying to think off my head - maybe Oak Park or Forest Park? Both of those have similar problems to D65 right now, though..