Money and Our School District

By Susan Foley

The way money is spent in our school district needs to change.

Superintendents' salaries: More than 40%

Supervisors' salaries: 124%

Teachers' salaries: 17%

There is something wrong with this picture. Administration reports at Board Meetings that they cannot keep teachers due to the low salaries and the cost of living in the Bay Area.

However, these same administrators report year after year, this awful trend, and then the board approves pay hikes for the administrators without a second thought.

There are currently 18 administrators registered with the County of San Mateo. That is one administrator for every 200 students in our district. Meanwhile, there are only 2 counselors for every 500-700 students at our Middle School and High School. There are no school nurses.

What can change: We can evaluate our needs at the school sites and make appropriate changes. In San Francisco, all unnecessary administrative positions were eliminated this month and administrators holding teaching credentials were reassigned to teach.

It's time for a change.