While teachers in Prince William County complain about the low salaries they’ll be getting in the new school budget, others are beginning to question the fact that the budget incudes $ 37 million for a new administrative building:
As Prince William School Superintendent Steven L. Walts pitches his proposed $755 million budget for next year, one item rankles teachers and some members of the Board of County Supervisors: a $37 million administrative building, scheduled to open in fall 2008.
If many have been hesitant to embrace the building, especially as the school system faces a $38 million budget shortfall, Walts and other school officials have been equally frustrated in explaining why they simply cannot scrap the building’s plans and boost more popular initiatives such as teacher compensation.
The new Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center, a 146,000-square-foot building equipped with a fitness room, is being built as Prince William teachers, already the lowest-paid among major Northern Virginia districts, are slated to get one of their most meager raises in years.
The school board points out, rightfully so, that the building was approved before anyone knew there was a shortfall and that the total cost of $ 37 million is paid over time as construction is completed, not in one lump sum.? More importantly, the contract was signed long ago and construction began in November so it’s too late for the County to back out now.
But that’s not the point.
Why is this money going to administration and not education ? Why does the School Board’s Administrative Offices need a Fitness Center ? Why does the Superintendent of Schools deserve a salary of $ 215,000 ?
As with any other bueraucratic organization, it is clear that the priorities of the school board lie in its own self-preservation than in achieving it’s supposed mission. And they’re doing it on the taxpayers dime.
There is no better argument for privatization of education than the reality that is exposed by the Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center.
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Good point except I believe the Superintendent somehow got a $40K raise last year so he is making over $253K. The site I came across last week had a comparison of the Fairfax Superintendent’s salary and Prince William Superintendents’ salary for 2006. I can’t locate that site anymore so perhaps it was taken offline after all the questions were raised about salaries. If anyone has a link or know where the public records of his 2006 salary is posted it would be greatly appreciated. All I can find now is the 2005 hiring salary.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:09 pm
The $37 million being spent on the new Administration building comes at the expense of the teachers and the students. Class sizes are going up and the teachers will not receive a cost-of-living increase. That’s means zero! Teachers in Prince William no longer have competitive salaries as compared to the surronding school systems. This budget is a sham and disgrace. The public should demand the cancellation of the the new Administration building immediately. That new ivory tower benefits no one except the Superintendent of Schools. That’s why we can say…NO MONEY LEFT BEHIND!
April 4th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Why are they building a fitness center for the administrators, when they are the ones making the money? They can actually afford to buy their own equipment or buy a gym membership. Now that the administrators are getting their own gym, they should work out a deal with the local gyms in Prince William County and pay for all of the teachers memberships, as many federal government jobs do for their employees. After all, don’t you need healthy teachers in the schools in order to educate the children. How about thinking about how to improve the quality of life for the educators, so that they can offer their best to the students who come to the schools in Prince William County.
November 15th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Edward L. Kelly allowed an unpunished child molestor to live in his home and thought nothing of it.