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Money for nothing: Top heavy schools, foolish spending aggravate New Haven locals
Jul 03, 2010
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By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor
moleary@newhavenregister.com
From war to walk signs to perceived swollen bureaucracies, area taxpayers have different perspectives on what they consider waste in government.
Asked to weigh in with their concerns to the New Haven Register, some honed in on the bigger picture, criticizing the $1.01 trillion spent since 2001 on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, while others were riled up by something as ubiquitous as pedestrian crossing signs.
Photo by Brad Horrigan/Register
Given the economic downturn, the state’s 9 percent unemployment rate and Connecticut’s historically slow recovery rate from recessions, people were primed to report concerns.
School system expenditures were a favorite target, particularly the number of administrators.
“In my mind, the greatest waste of money year after year is the top-heavy and swollen bureaucracy (dictionary definition: a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape and proliferation) in the public school system,” wrote John Hedden.
“I think the teachers deserve every dime they make, but once you reach the level of principal and up, the salaries are too high, and there are just too any of them!” he added.
An analysis by Christine Bishop, who described herself as a concerned citizen, using the city’s 2010 budget document, found school enrollment decreased 7 percent from 2005 to 2009, while the number of administrators increased by 12 percent in the same period from 117 to 131.
Bishop and others recommended the school board absorb the $3 million cut to its budget proposal for 2010-11, by going back to the 117 administrative positions listed in 2005 and then cutting more to account for the drop in the number of students, for a loss of 22 positions.
The New Haven Board of Aldermen, which imposed budget cuts that will keep tax increases to 4 percent, down from the 8.8 percent proposed by the administration, recommended the schools cut administrative staff, rather than summer school programs and the Talented and Gifted Program, to balance its budget.
But Will Clark, chief operating officer for the New Haven public schools, said the figures in the city’s budget, which he said were compiled for a bonding document, are inaccurate. School’s spokeswoman Michelle Wade said it’s unclear which staff members it refers to, while Clark said some totals seem to contain vacancies.
Ultimately however, Wade agreed with a higher figure listed by the state Department of Education for 2007, its latest published statistic on administrators, which showed 147 people in this category compared to the 130 in the city’s document.
Clark said the enrollments in the city tabulation appear to be counted at different points in the year, rather than a consistent comparison. He said enrollment for 2005 to 2009 started at 20,273 and dropped 415 to 19,858, or 2.5 percent over that period, not 7 percent, which agrees with the state Department of Education.
The school’s budget chief said from 2000 to 2009 the number of schools went from 42 to 46, while there are several additional programs, such as Urban Youth, Riverside and Cross Connecticut Scholars that need administrators to run them.
“As a practical matter, we haven’t increased as dramatically as people think,” Clark said.
With about 20,000 students, 46 schools and additional programs, “it doesn’t strike me that we have an overabundance of administrators,” Clark said.
The state’s K-12 education website, as of October 2007, showed New Haven’s 147 administrators compared to 102 in Bridgeport and 128 for Hartford. Wade did not take issue with the 147 number, which was higher than the 130 listed in the bonding document.
“The staff file system was not then nor is it now designed to be able to accept a vacant position,” said Thomas Murphy, spokesman for the state Department of Education, when told that Clark thought the state may have been including vacant positions in its statistics.
Murphy added that the differences between the three large urban systems is understandable. “I believe that it is important to point out that New Haven operates more schools than both Hartford and Bridgeport, so it is not surprising that they have more administrators,” he said.
Clark didn’t quarrel with the 2007 state figure that put the number of administrators in the schools at 109, but took issue with the 38 central office staffers. However, Wade didn’t question a spreadsheet that listed all 147 administrators by name.
Wade said for 2010, right now the number of administrators is 146, with 14 vacancies, which will be scrutinized as they look for savings. The job of overseeing the school building program has already been added to Clark’s duties, with at least half for principals and assistant principals. Of the 146 positions, 105 are part of the general fund with the rest covered by other sources.
Clark said New Haven’s nationally recognized teachers’ contract, which will offer a support system and a detailed evaluation process for struggling teachers, should add considerably to tasks that fall to principals come September.
“We need more administrators to do all the things we have to do,” he said.
Clark said, in his opinion, the emphasis on positions that arose out of the aldermanic budget process is the wrong discussion. “We can all throw numbers around, but are we going to look at this from an educational perspective?” he asked. “We’re not engaging in the relevant debate.”
New Haven Alderman Roland Lemar, D-9, was one of several lawmakers who voted for performance-based budgeting and monthly discussions to make sure the city stays on track, something he wants the school board to emulate. He agreed with Clark that “we need broader discussions on educational priorities.”
But Lemar was frustrated with the lack of communication between the school board and the aldermen. “We can’t just be dumping money into our school system just because we all agree on the goals … We are very proud of what has been accomplished, but numbers matter,” he said. The alderman said he shouldn’t be expected to “gloss over inaccuracies,” referring to the different calculations on administrators.
“It makes you wonder what else is incorrect,” Bishop said.
Wade, spokeswoman for the school system, said the average administrator is paid $110,000, which is necessary in order to compete in a market where administrators are in short supply. She did confirm that Wilbur Cross High School, the city’s largest with 1,334 students, has eight assistant principals. Clark said one of them is a systemwide supervisor, while the rest are necessary given the diversity and needs of the school.
Clark also pointed out that local taxpayers support 33 percent of the school budget with the rest covered by the state and special funds. While the city picks up the medical costs for school personnel, it is later reimbursed for those covered by special funds. The city also covers workers’ compensation.
At the state level, a worker complained that repeated early-retirement plans to cut costs leave a smaller workforce to deal with the same agenda, while the number of managers seem to stay in place.
“When government becomes too big or too expensive and cutbacks are required, it it almost unheard of that the upper echelon volunteers to be reduced; instead management usually gives back a few of the pawns that they used to build their kingdoms,” he wrote.
Jeffrey Beckham, spokesman for the state Office of Policy and Management, said 347 managers opted to take the most recent retirement incentive program, which is about 15 percent of their numbers. This didn’t include appointed managers in the judicial branch, higher education units, the legislative branch or quasi-public agencies.
With 3,500 nonmanagers retiring out of some 50,000 workers, Beckham said the nonmanagement rate was closer to 7 percent. He added however, that the state refilled 127 of the manager vacancies, or 37 percent, “which was in line with our target.”
Asked if the ranks of managers are automatically reduced as staff disappears, Beckham said it is up to department heads to make sure that “appropriate staff ratios are in place.”
Matt O’Connor, spokesperson for SEBAC (the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition,) said it has opposed some retirement incentive programs and approved of others, but generally they negotiate the best of bad options.
He agreed “the re-hiring decisions that are made aren’t always the wisest,” with large numbers of workers brought back once the budget crisis passes. “It would be smarter to have a longer term plan,” O’Connor said.
He said the “first casualty” in these incentive programs is the frontline workers left to deliver services. O’Connor said programs like the birth to three program, which provides services to special needs children, are often hit hard.
David Carmody of North Haven targeted another area where he feels the government should rein in spending. “All levels of government waste money by allowing ‘public service’ employees to retire after 20 years of ‘service’ with cost of living adjustments. Private sector employees can look forward to perhaps getting Social Security at age 67. Public service employment is effectively guaranteed, private sector employees are nearly certain to have to find new employment as their employees move, are swalllowed up or go out of business,” he said.
North Haven First Selectman Michael J. Freda, who has been in office for six months, said these pensions are the byproduct of decades of collective bargaining agreements. He said going forward, as new workers are hired he hoped the town can negotiate replacing the current pensions with 401K or 457 plans, that is a defined contribution plans, versus a defined benefit pension.
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., said he has instituted defined contribution plans for non-union staff. “Where we have discretion, we have done that,” he said. He said changes are needed in the collective bargaining rules, but the state legislature fails to tackle this because it does not have to deal with the consequences – towns have to.
Municipal workers now don’t contribute to Social Security, but in the future, DeStefano sees city workers having a hybrid retirement package that includes a market-driven investment vehicle with Social Security.
Carmody also complained that teacher tenure should be eliminated. “Being a good teacher should be all the job security required. Tenure protects terrible teachers,” he asserted.
Dave Cicarella, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, said teacher tenure is essentially “a due process policy. It doesn’t entitle us to a job, but to a policy for fair dismissal” that is defined by state statute.
A new evaluation system due to start in New Haven in September lays out “real assistance” for teachers who are struggling with defined time limits during which improvements have to take place. After that, administrators could push for termination.
On those walk signs, “Spike” wrote to the Register that the eight Walk/Don’t Walk signs at each downtown intersections wastes “taxpayers’ dough. They are universally either A. ignored or B. not comprehended.”
Michael Piscitelli, head of the city’s transportation department, said the city’s policy is to encourage more walking and biking as alternatives to motor vehicles and part of its safe streets program is an extensive effort to educate people on sharing the road.
Those walk signs are not only needed, they are required by the American Disabilities Act, Piscitelli said.
Finally, Dori Ahern of West Haven, directed her complaints to the federal level and one of the country’s biggest budgetary commitments.
“It costs $1 million per year, for each soldier kept occupying other people’s countries, who never invited us to intervene,” she said, extrapolating from the $1.01 trillion spent since 2001 on Iraq and Afghanistan. The data was provided by the Greater New Haven Peace Council.
Ahern said the $26 billion sent by Connecticut taxpayers to Washington could cover the health costs of 580,000 low income residents for 10 years or four years of college for 31,000 Connecticut high school graduates for a decade.
Lemar had to agree that freeing up that kind of money would jumpstart a much different budget conversation in U.S. cities.
Call Mary E. O’Leary at 203-789-5731.
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