Tuesday, December 28, 2010

6 retired educators in county are paid more than U.S. education secretary - SignOnSanDiego.com

6 retired educators in county are paid more than U.S. education secretary

With no clear way to fund retirement benefits, state system faces huge shortfall

MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2010 AT 8:54 P.M.

Top educator pensions, San Diego County

Rudy Castruita, retired in 2006 as superintendent to the San Diego County Office of Education, receives $281,034 or 107 percent of his salary.
Kenneth Noonan, retired in 2007 as superintendent of the Oceanside Unified School District, receives $249,011 or 92 percent of his salary.
Larry Maw, retired in 2005 as superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District, receives $229,326 or 98 percent of his salary.
Ralph Cowles, retired as superintendent of Vista Unified School District in 2006, receives $223,632 or 97 percent of his salary.
Sherrill Amador, retired in 2004 as president of Palomar Community College, receives $218,511 or 113 percent of her salary.
Warren Hogarth, retired in 2003 as superintendent of the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, receives $216,348 or 105 percent of his salary.
Louis “Lean” King, retired in 2009 as superintendent of the Encinitas Union Elementary School District, receives $179,144 or 83 percent of his salary.
Thomas Anthony, retired in 2009 as superintendent of the Fallbrook Union High School District, receives $173,812 or 89 percent of his salary.

Rudy Castruita, retired in 2006 as superintendent to the San Diego County Office of Education, receives $281,034 or 107 percent of his salary.

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San Diego’s pension problems have given the city a bad name nationally, but it’s becoming more apparent every week that similar benefit levels and funding shortfalls are plaguing governments small and large across the nation.

As part of an ongoing examination of these issues, The Watchdog has reviewed local educator pensions and found a familiar story — high benefits with no clear way to pay them.

The state teacher’s pension system faces a $40.5 billion shortfall over the next 34 years, in part because it owes payments for life to people such as Rudy Castruita, the retired superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education.

Castruita receives the region’s top

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The $578 million price tag for the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex in Los Angeles is hard to justify at a time when many schools are turning to desperate measures to save teachers' jobs. Voters must respond by pushing profligate public schools to be as frugal as charter schools. By Walt Gardner, The Christian Science Monitor December 27, 2010 at 8:43 am EST - Los Angeles —

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By Kerry Cavanaugh, Columnist - LA Daily News 12/23/2010 - On Tuesday, I wrote about the pathetically low turnout in Los Angeles City Council races. Someone can be elected to the council, earn $179,000 a year and manage a staff of 20 with fewer than 5,000 votes. But the picture is much worse when it comes to the Los Angeles Unified District Board of Education elections. In some races, just 4

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More on School Pension Worries voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog

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There's an interesting article today in the U-T about public educator pensions and how their costs statewide could echo city pension problems. Here were its key findings:

Read the rest of this article

Comments

27Dec

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Hands down, the best part of my job is going to classrooms to see what new ideas schools are trying out in the endless quest to improve.

Here are the seven most fascinating ideas that I ran across in San Diego classrooms this year. Maybe you agree with them, maybe you don't, but they're bound to get you thinking. And if they work — or keep working — they might be worth bringing up at your local school:

Read the rest of this article

Comments (7)

26Dec

Hotel Stays, Flights and a $400 Bottle of WineComments (2) | 5:24 pm

When San Diego County Office of Education employees flew to Boston to learn more about a company they were considering doing business with, they didn't need to worry about the bill.

The company paid for their flight to Boston. It also paid for their hotel stay. And when one of the employees, Dan Puplava, picked out a bottle of wine from Napa Valley over dinner, he wasn't really sure who paid, but believes it was either the company or its marketing company. He thought the bottle cost $400.

Read the rest of this article

Teacher Fakes Bomb Threat, Ends Faculty Meeting | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

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Louisville, KY

Just off the grounds of Fairdale High School in Louisville, KY a makeshift banner has been hung in honor of 11th grade English teacher Jason Cooley. The banner reads simply: “Thank You”. Flowers are strewn about, below and around the banner. An enormous heart has been constructed out of what appears to be PowerPoint handouts. A small group of teachers sits to one side in a circle with candles alight. They are singing.

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Sources attending the meeting all reported the same sequence of events, though all but one wished to remain anonymous. The meeting began normally with the principal offering a hollow thank you to everybody for all their hard work. Then came a number of announcements; though sources could not recall any of them. One teacher

Democurmudgeon: Majority of Utah Citizens who Rejected Republican Voucher Law are about to see New Voucher Law by Republicans. Are they listening?

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Even after the Republicans made the point that health care reform had been “rammed down our throats,” and the Democrats weren’t listening to the protesting American public, they still want to ram school vouchers down the throats of the same voters who voted down the idea in 2007. A bit authoritarian?

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RHSU Exclusive: RHSU's 2010 Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings :: Frederick M. Hess

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by Frederick M. Hess • Dec 28, 2010 at 9:05 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Today, RHSU unveils its first annual edu-scholar "Public Presence" rankings. The metrics, as I explainedyesterday, seek to capture many of the various ways in which academics contribute to public discourse. My hope is that this exercise helps spur conversation about which university-based academics are contributing most substantially to public debates over education and ed policy, and how they do so. The scoring rubric

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The Answer Sheet - A hard look at education research

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Tuesday, December 28, 2010