Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Memo to: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan - chicagotribune.com

vacation and sick days yield huge payouts - chicagotribune.com:

Memo to: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan

Dear Mr. Secretary,

We've often heard you talk fondly about your days as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. You may have heard that the schools face a huge budget crisis. You want to do something good for the schools and set an example for everyone who works there?

Write a check for $50,297.

Make it out to Chicago Public Schools. On the memo line put "Re: unearned pay."

That's what you collected for unused vacation time when you left the school system in 2009, according to the Better Government Association.

No, you weren't alone. More than 300 CPS principals and administrators each grabbed more than $100,000, cashing out unused sick days and vacation days, from 2006 to 2011, the BGA reported. Former Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins collected