3
contracts in a class by themselves
Deals with school superintendents
defy state's stringent budget
Sunday, September 04, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY
• The Star-Ledger
As New Jersey tightens budget reins on
its public schools, officials are approving high-priced
contracts for superintendents in three state-operated
districts.
Under Education Commissioner William
Librera, officials are finalizing three-year contracts with
Charles Epps in Jersey City and Michael Glascoe in Paterson
that include $200,000-plus salaries, housing allowances and
other perks and bonuses, according to documents obtained by
The Star- Ledger.
A three-year deal reached with Newark
Superintendent Marion Bolden could raise her pay to $250,000
this year if she meets performance incentives.
"Frankly, no superintendent comes cheap
any more," said Deputy Education Commissioner Richard
Rosenberg, who will take over for Librera when he steps down
next week. "They're not unusual. ... I don't think the state
is giving anything away here."
The proposed contracts in the state's
largest districts reflect a seller's market for urban school
superintendents nationwide, where compensation packages have
risen sharply to attract candidates to demanding and often
short-lived jobs.
For instance, Buffalo's superintendent --
overseeing a district smaller than Newark and comparable
with Jersey City -- just won a $205,000-a-year deal. About
the same size, St. Louis pays its superintendent
$250,000.
The average salary last year for all
superintendents in New Jersey was about $135,000.
TROUBLED IN TRENTON
The three deals in state-run districts
have sparked concern in Trenton. The deals come as the state
is cracking down on administrative spending in all
districts, especially those falling under the state Supreme
Court's Abbott v. Burke school equity case.
The State Commission of Investigation is
conducting its own review of administrators' contracts in
scores of districts, even serving subpoenas for documents
last summer. That review should be finished by the end of
the year, an SCI spokesman said.
The president of Paterson's local
advisory board said he was surprised by the $1,000 monthly
housing allowance being offered to Glascoe, who was hired
this summer from an administrative post in Fairfax County,
Va.
The housing allowance would be on top of
a $200,000 salary, a $7,500 tax-deferred annual annuity, a
car and another 10 percent raise if he meets unspecified
performance incentives, according to the proposal that
awaits approval by the state's lawyers.
"We're in a fiscal crisis and the state
is posturing in its Abbott regulations, and then it gives
away these sweetheart deals," said board president Chauncey
Brown, who said his board had no input in the contract
talks.
"I like (Glascoe); he's a great guy,"
Brown said. "But he hasn't demonstrated anything
yet."
IN DEFENSE OF THE DEALS
Glascoe would not discuss pending talks,
but Epps said his job with Jersey City is worthy of the
deal.
"Nobody's clamoring to get these jobs,"
he said. "It's a labor of love. I think I'm worth a lot
more."
In Newark, Bolden defended her contract,
approved last December. She has been notified by state
officials that her term would be renewed next year when the
contract expires, although those negotiations have yet to
begin.
"I would like somebody else to come in
here and do this job," she said. "Given the struggle that
you have in urban districts, I don't know what people expect
of us."
The three contracts all include
performance incentives tied to student achievement or other
academic measures, a standard practice for many urban
districts nationwide.
As superintendent of the state's largest
district with 47,000 students, Bolden is the highest paid of
the three at $235,000 this year, with the chance of a
succession of 4 percent raises if she meets specific
performance goals.
They include Newark's passing rates on
the state's fourth-grade language arts test exceeding the
average for the state's neediest districts, that the
district eliminate the backlog of students requiring initial
special education evaluations and that she reduce the budget
deficit in the district's food service account, which once
topped $16 million.
MORE THAN JUST MONEY
Last year, Bolden met two of the three
goals, accomplishing all but the student test score gains,
she and state officials said.
In addition, Bolden gets a $10,000
tax-deferred annuity, also common to superintendent
contracts, and a $1,000 monthly housing allowance. But her
contract provides the allowance only if she resides in
Newark. Bolden now lives in Orange.
Glascoe and Epps are also being offered
the $1,000 housing allowances under their proposed deals,
although neither contract includes residency requirements.
Epps lives in Jersey City. Glascoe is living in
Wayne.
Epps' contract calls for him to make
$210,520 this year, as well as the $10,000 annuity and
annual raises that would bring him to $229,343 in
2007.
His performance incentives -- each worth
a 5 percent bonus -- demand a specific percentage of special
education students be brought into mainstream classrooms and
improved achievement levels of limited-English
students.
"Those have been sticky issues for us,"
Epps said. "I saw it as a particular challenge for
me."
A COMPLEX STATE OF AFFAIRS
Epps served in the Jersey City district
for 40 years before going on the state payroll as
superintendent in 2000. A point of discussion in his
contract is who will pay at the end of his contract for the
493 unused sick days he accumulated before his state
appointment.
State officials said they wanted to make
sure the state was not responsible for those days. Rosenberg
said he expected the matter to be resolved at the state
Board of Education's meeting next week.
"What we want to put in the contract is
that the state is only responsible for what he accumulated
as the state superintendent," Rosenberg said.
Another unique provision concerns Epps'
"outside activities." The state commissioner would have
unusual powers in determining whether they interfere with
Epps' job as superintendent.
Epps is running for the Assembly, a
candidacy that needed the state's approval. And his contract
allows the commissioner to veto any such activity if it
interferes with Epps' job.
As state education commissioner,
Librera's annual salary is $141,000. Acting Gov. Richard
Codey makes $175,000.
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@star ledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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