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Tracy Pitlosh's avatar

Sorry, another comment. Say what you will about Hardy Murphy but when he was superintendent—Ellen Fogelberg, literacy director let her Secretary go before she let any of the staff working with kids go…She had no Secretary. Fast forward to now with a ridiculous amount of administrators…more than any other surrounding Northshore district…Time to SLASH administrators and their 6 figure salaries 🤬🤬🤯

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Tom Hayden's avatar

Last time I checked there were 3 folks working in central office that were executive assistants for various admin folks:

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO CFO

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO EXEC CHIEF OF HR

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO SUPT

We currently spend $285k/year on salaries alone for executive assistants for executives down there. These exec assistants make *more* than any Track I teacher!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rq3D8kB0w9AECf4bwFutO8YJr1msOLINYh36azMGGO8/edit?gid=528062742#gid=528062742

I've worked for billion dollar companies that had fewer executive assistants.

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smh's avatar

Shame on all of them! Putting themselves first at the expense of our teachers and students. It sickens me as a former educator. I don't know how they sleep at night.

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Tim's avatar

Every "executive" having an EA is very 1989.

I can see an argument for the Supt needing an EA given how complicated scheduling can get, but the CFO and Chief of HR having EAs is mind-blowing.

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JE's avatar

As this was Horton’s district, I bet and will give you odds that these well paid executive assistants job holders (a job title with fewer set qualifications), are probably ‘connected’ individuals, like in the city south of Evanston where Horton came from, for any plum gov’t job it’s ‘don’t send nobody who ain’t been sent by somebody’.

C’est Evanston!

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Tom Hayden's avatar

Horton actually had both an Executive Assistant and a Chief of Staff. His Chief of Staff wasn't even really a board approved position, her job title was "Special Assistant to the Cabinet" or something but he gave her a special title that was not on the org chart provided to the Board (but was in her email signatures). She's now Director of Equity down in the Georgia District with him.

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JE's avatar

Our loss, their gain, right?

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PrismaRose's avatar

This spreadsheet doesn't include 5 "Administrative Assistants" including one for the Superintendent's Office. (At one time, all the "Executive and Administrative Assistants" were called Secretaries and were part of that union.) It also doesn't include an "Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent of Operations."

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Wendy's avatar

They are listed on the spreadsheet. Also during the referendum in 2017, (when they thought the referendum was not going to pass and facing a deficit), the district eliminated a lot of positions at central office including all executive assistants except for one, who was reassigned to the Superintendent's office. When Horton became superintendent, he gradually reinstated some of those executive assistant roles, one for the HR department, the Business Office, and the Student/Special Education Services department. Those positions are non-certified exempt and were never in the union.

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PrismaRose's avatar

I see "Executive Assistants" but not "Administrative Assistants." I don't want to list the Admin Asst's names here, but I don't see the names (or the positions) on the spreadsheet. I found them by going to the district's staff directory, entering "JEH Admin Center" location and "all." I'm assuming that the staff directory has been updated by now. Or maybe not.

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Wendy's avatar

During the Murphy years it was the same thing with leaving high paying administrative positions intact. To clarify, the secretary position assigned to Ellen Fogelberg, which was eliminated, was a low-paying union position with a total compensation package of only $35K an amount that made no meaningful impact on closing the budget shortfall. While he retained administrators and executive assistants, whose combined compensation exceeded nearly $2 million. This pattern continues with the current administration as well. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and lower-paid support staff are being cut, while administrators with high six-figure salaries remain untouched. This practice is inequitable and must be addressed. So yes, it's time to finally eliminate these administrators and their HIGH 6 figure salaries.

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Tracy Pitlosh's avatar

The administration when Hardy Murphy was leading wasn’t nearly as bloated as it is now…not even close. Dr Horton made up so many positions it’s ridiculous (Dean of this, Dean of that, Superintendent of curriculum, Superintendent of operations, Superintendent of Human Resources) and then all of those positions had assistants. Clearly Dr Horton thought he won the lottery when he rolled into Evanston.

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JE's avatar

And bet that most all of those made-up positions were for friends of Horton (it’s called the Buddy System)…..

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Wendy's avatar

Agreed, it was not extreme like Horton, but it still reflected a level of elitism and disregard for teachers and staff doing the heaving lifting.

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KO's avatar

Exactly. I commented on another post re: respect for Murphy & his admin. Not that he or they were perfect, but at least I could respect them. These administrators? Nah.

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