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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Would you hire this man?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of two finalists for the job of leading efforts to salvage the Clayton County school system’s accreditation is apparently demanding a $275,000 salary, $2 million to hire consultants, 24-hour security and a Lincoln Town Car with a driver.
The report comes from an official who attended one of the interviews with John W. Thompson. He is also asking for additional money for travel and for housing assistance, said the official.
“I think those benefits are absolutely ludicrous,” said the head of the Metro Association of Classroom Educators, John Trotter, “but desperate school boards like Clayton County will offer up all the taxpayers’ money to try and find a savior.” Trotter, whose organization has done its share to disrupt Clayton schools, did not participate in the interviews, but conveys a report from one who did.
The second candidate brought forth by a search firm, Santiago V. Wood, said he is asking for $185,000 plus moving expenses and a one-time $2,200 housing fee — eminently reasonable requests. He also wants an 18- to 24-month contract, which the board should be willing to grant.
Wood’s request isn’t exorbitant, but a spokesman for the search firm says Thompson’s isn’t either. “These guys are coming into a district that is not well organized, filled with confrontation, losing accreditation, personnel issues and board issues,” said Dick Greene. “Right now, a package of $325,000 including salary and benefits is not unusual at all.”
Maybe. But a superintendent who insisted on a security guard and a specific vehicle with driver is one who’d have to walk to town across the Chattahoochee River before I’d hire him.
I still think the problem in Clayton County is the voters of Clayton County. They make bad choices, initially on the basis of race. They elected a sheriff who’s been nothing but trouble. They threw out a veteran district attorney widely respected for his competence, apparently on the basis of skin color, to choose a black woman. And, of course, the school board has been a disaster zone for years.
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