The Fleecing of Alameda County Schools

I couldn’t believe what I read today on insidebayarea.com.

According to the report, which can be read here, it asserts that the Alameda County board of directors turned down incoming-superintendent Karen Monroe’s request for a $24,000 increase to her base salary, along with an additional $16,000 dollar car allowance. This request coming from someone who will be earning $224,000 dollars a year already. This from someone who is working for our public school system, a system that is constantly asking for more money from taxpayers, whether it be bond measures or lab fees in art and science classes.

As though that weren’t outrageous and outlandish enough, Monroe then had the audacity to say that “[her] goal is not to make a killing at this job. [Her] goal is to do an excellent job and be compensated for it.” Which is really a peculiar thing to say after a moment’s reflection. See, at $224,000 a year for her salary, it would appear plain to anyone capable of rational thought that she is being MORE than compensated to fulfill her duties. Surely, there must be more justification for this wage increase than meets the eye, right? Wrong.

Monroe continued to dig deeper into the hole she’s created by declaring that “the $16,000 a year car allowance is based on what Jordan is paid”. So to clarify, the crux of her justification for the allowance is that her predecessor earned that much, so she should, too.

That’s nice.

But for the fact that her predecessor shouldn’t have. And neither should Monroe.

For any reason.

I don’t care if Monroe says she also deserves it because “she plans to drive to Sacramento several times a month.” In fact, that coupled with the previous comment are such asinine things to say, let’s tear them apart before we continue:

1) “Plans” are not “guarantees”. You don’t get to ask for an additional $16,000 of taxpayer money because you have the intention of doing something. You get paid for things you do, not hypotheticals. Especially when you’re talking $16,000.

2) Even if Monroe does end up driving to the capital several times a month, in what way does that warrant $16,000? Is she special in some way that other workers are not? Normal people get mileage if they use their own car to travel for work. Mileage. Not $1,300 a month, unless they’re driving to and from the moon. Because last time I checked, at 56 cents a mile with basic mileage compensation, the total she would be owed over twelve months at three trips to Sac a month from West Winton is roughly $1,950. What’s the justification? As far as I can tell, there is none, other than “me, too!” selfishness.

Going back to Monroe’s first point, though, where she talks about “not wanting to make a killing”-yeah, sorry, but she is. She’s making almost a quarter of a million dollars to run underachieving California county school districts that cry poor on a regular, annual basis. Not only should she not be asking for a raise without even offering any sort of results beforehand, she shouldn’t even be making almost a quarter of a million to begin with.

Look at this logically: If our schools need more money, if our schools are constantly cutting programs, threatening to cut programs, asking for bond and tax initiatives, it’s pretty clear that the money situation in Alameda County isn’t very good-on the outside, at any rate. So what sensible human being, in a cash-strapped public school system, decides that at a time when every dollar counts, that an individual working within that system is worth almost a quarter million of said dollars?

The job is hard. I get that. As someone who worked in the San Leandro Unified School District for seven years and was a student within that same district from Kindergarten to high school graduation, I’ve seen from both sides just how tough it can be working in our public schools. That being said, this is not Apple. This is not Facebook. This is not Ford. Monroe, and every other administrator working for the public school system in this state, is not part of a private enterprise. This is taxpayer money. This is the public’s money. As a member of the public, it disgusts me how recklessly and haphazardly funds are spent and disseminated in this state. No one should be stepping into a job for the public school system expecting Google money. The schools say they don’t have enough cash, so how it’s even remotely appropriate to pay someone as though they’re anywhere near the private sector is bewildering.

Karen Monroe could very well be the person to step in and finally turn things around in this county. She might have a bright future ahead of her. What she doesn’t seem to have, sadly, is any sort of respect for the students and their families who she’s working for. Until the day comes that every single need of our students, teachers, and councilors is met, until bond and tax initiatives for our schools stop being foisted onto the ballot, and until teachers and coaches stop asking our kids for lab and sports fees, Monroe and every other administrator needs to think twice before making such utterly ludicrous demands as these for their salaries.

I will repeat-our educators and school administrators are the ones who tell us, members of the community, parents, taxpayers, that the system is underfunded. That our schools are poor. That’s not something debatable, it’s a fact, and one that has been said repeatedly and loudly. Even if, for the sake of this argument, only one out of ten schools in Alameda Country is underfunded, that’s one school that needs every penny it can get.

So no, Karen Monroe, no raise for you. Her rationalizations are childish. In a matter of moments I went from being optimistic to realizing she’s as uncaring and selfish as every other administrator who has had a hand in driving California’s public schools into the dirt. Monroe is making almost a quarter of a million dollars. She can buy her own vehicle and take mileage compensation like all of us peasants do.

I’m sending what I’ve typed here as a letter to every news agency and school administrator that I can get an email address for. This is a disgusting example of the corruption and ineptitude rife within our school system. I hope that anyone reading this who feels the same as I do will take the time to send their own letters of discontent and demand accountability from our public schools, because it’s long past time that this sort of nonsense be put to a stop.