LAUSD board members will soon rank among California's highest-paid municipal officials
Halfway through her four years on the L.A. Unified School Board, Ratliff took a part-time teaching job in another district. She said the job didn't pay enough on its own — about $45,000 annually for anyone without outside income; about $26,000 for "part-time" board members with other jobs.
"I thought, well, people will understand. 'She's a school board member who's a teacher,'" Ratliff said Monday during testimony before a committee exploring whether to raise L.A. Unified board members' salaries.
"And I'm telling you," Ratliff added, "people still didn't like that … You get emails all the time, in the middle of the night, and people expect you to respond. And the excuse, 'I'm sorry, but I'm a part-time school board member' — nobody wants to hear that."
Ratliff said her performance as board member suffered. She couldn't visit campuses or observe classrooms during the normal school day. Staff members had to step in and take meetings she felt she should be attending.
"I don't think I did as good a job, in a way," said Ratliff, "the second half as I did in the first half" — when she was a "full-time" board member. Her term on the L.A. Unified board ended last month.
It appears Ratliff will be part of the last class of L.A. Unified board members to face this trade-off.
On Monday, members of the appointed "Board of Education Compensation Review Committee" approved a salary increase that, once finalized, will make L.A. Unified board members among the best-compensated local elected officials in California.
As early as September, the annual base salary for full-time board members will increase to $125,000, a 174 percent increase. Board members who earn a salary or honorarium elsewhere will make $50,000.
In education terms, the move means board members' salaries will jump from just Audio: LAUSD board members will soon rank among California's highest-paid municipal officials | 89.3 KPCC: