Dear Editor:
Governor Christie recently announced that he plans to stop exorbitant pay for superintendents by capping the vast majority at his own $175,000 salary. The average salary for superintendents in N. J. is $185,000 a year.
Christie outlined his push to cap salaries and encourage merit bonuses. He said superintendents pay has gotten out of control. And they were bouncing around like free agents in baseball. He went on to say “it is unfair to make taxpayers who have lost their jobs and their homes to pay these increasing wages.” Under the governor’s proposal, the top salary for a superintendent of a district k-8 with fewer than 250 students would be $120,000. From there salary maximums would gradually grow with the districts size so that that the head of a districts with the size up to 10,000 students could be paid $175,000 a year.
This I feel is a great idea long overdue. Our superintendent Mrs. Randina makes $206,000 a year. But it does not stop there. She also gets a travel expence worth $500 a month. Her contract is for 4 years 10 months, with an annual raise of 3 percent.
By comparison, Paterson superintendent Don Evans made $203,000 for leading a sprawling district of 24,000 students in 35 schools.
I ask how can our superintendent who oversees 2,146 students make more than the superintendent of Paterson?
Clearly our board trustees have been too generous with our taxpayer’s money.
But public paydays are no longer about someone’s perceived worth. It’s about a community’s ability to pay. Recently the teachers voted a vote of no confidence for superintendent {176-27}. The vote reflects the vast majority of the employees are not confident in her ability to run our school district. Sadly the board trustees do not agree with the majority of the teachers, students, and the rest of the community. They voted a vote of complete confidence in the superintendent {7-1}. This makes scene of their behalf, some were on the board when Mrs. Randina was hired. They would have to admit that they hired the wrong person, which they clearly will not do. So we the citizens need to vote out the majority of the board trustees. Next school year 3 trustees will be up for reelection. Dora Marra, Eleanor Rhiel, and Mike Markarski the only one deserving of reelection is Mike Markarski, he was the lone nay vote. If he runs he will get my vote. I hope he gets yours.
Tom Roarty