Counterintuitive, or just dumb? - Bites - Opinions - April 28, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review

Counterintuitive, or just dumb? - Bites - Opinions - April 28, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review

Counterintuitive, or just dumb?

By Cosmo Garvin
cosmog@newsreview.com
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This article was published on 04.28.11.

The Sacramento City Unified School District is getting ready to fire hundreds of teachers, cut sports programs and end school-bus transportation. Still, it continues to add top managers.
Despite the fiscal crisis, SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond wants to go ahead with plans to hire a new assistant superintendent of education information technology as well as an assistant superintendent of capital asset management. Each will make somewhere between $105,000 and $132,000.
District officials point out that these technically aren’t new positions—but were created by eliminating a position here, moving some money around there.
Still, Bites wonders about the need for plum positions like the new information-technology job, which sounds a lot like czar of test-score tracking.
“As I’m sure you are aware, maintaining accurate student data—that aligns with statewide and federal standards—is critical to both improving student learning and accurate reporting to the