Thursday, November 11, 2010

Are we getting what we are paying for?

While researching I found a Teacher & Administrator Salary Database. Of the top 200 salaries for 2009 in IL listed was District 131 superintendent Jerome Roberts.

The 100 highest-paid school administrators in Illinois in 2006 had salaries ranging from $205,590 to $380,227. Seventeen made more than a quarter million dollars. One of those individuals was none other than Michael Radakovich.
While employed by 131 School Board he was one of 17 superintendents in the Quarter Million dollar Club for 2006

What should determine a superintendents salary?
Should it be linked to teachers salary increase? District improvement? Achievement?

An update of salaries and break down of D131 administrative salaries can be viewed at: http://d131.org/Employment/Admin%20List%20for%20Posting%202009-2010.pdf

More info may be found at:
http://www.illinoisloop.org/salary.html
http://www.familytaxpayers.org/salary.php

250 comments:

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Anonymous said...

I work here and I do want the best for these kids but there isn't a chance in hell that I would live here or send my kids to East Aurora Schools.

When the administration brags about the 60+ millions they have in reserves at the same time the kids have twenty year old books and the scheduling system is 30 years old and they put 35 or more kids in classes.

The schools and fields are in disrepair but the administration brags about their bottom line.

Just because I can't run for the board doesn't mean that I don't want our kids to have the same advantages as the kids across the river or in District 204.

Anonymous said...

You've never been to a concert, you've never been to a board meeting, you've never been to a sporting event, you don't even have kids that go to school in the district anymore, you remember the 60's and 70's when East Aurora was a good district, you blame everybody but yourselves for the problems that exist, you are bitter and old and you have no idea what the district needs.

Anonymous said...

Who the hell are you talking about?

Rudy Reza said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

This current Board has done more in 2 years than any other Board in twenty. The bad part is some in the central office don't want change. Every two years the Board changes and you can bet Clayton/Roberts will do what they can to change that.

The teachers did receive a good raise and the Board is addressing class over-crowding. The students will be receiving a new information system and the will be able to take credit recovery courses or additional courses online. Smart Board/computers are getting updated district wide in every class room, a mentoring system was put in place for troubled students and they are working on the poor outdoor sports fields. Reading programs are being instituted in every school. All of this comes with new leadership and voting out the old guard.

Ms Weaver will soon leave but a-lot of credit for holding administrators accountable should be given to her. She is also behind the forcing of updated books. Many have been updated.

That change has come with electing good Board members lets not get back to the days of the past. Let us not forget Hull picked the serial bully and when asked will tell you he did a great job. Barriero is looking to come back as well. So watch out. Clayton has also recruited two member of B2M. So ask questions who you are electing change is easy to stop. Roberts does not want change he only wants to ride out the next four years.

Anonymous said...

How is it legal for the administration to recruit or back anyone for the board?

It's illegal for any school district employee to support or back any candidate or even a referendum on district time and dime.

If you know that the administrators are supporting certain candidates, you need to report this to the proper authorities. It is illegal.

Anonymous said...

Rudy,

Name calling, profanity, making statements with no facts or proof.

You are demonstrating exactly why so many people have such a poor opinion of the students on the East Side.

You need to show better judgement or keep your opinions to yourself.

Mauricio Palma said...

It's better than trying to express opinions as Anonymous. A student's opinions actually matter.

Anonymous said...

Rudy,

Keep believing that. It's what empowers the administration to do the things they do (or don't do). As long as you and others in this community are satified with crap, you will never get anything better.

Go see some other band concerts and see exactly how good East is. See the power sports programs that go to state championships year after year and tell me how good the East teams are. Look at test scores and tell me that you are receiving an adequate education.

Unfortunately, you aren't going to realize the inadequacies of your education until to get out into the real world and realize you can't compete with the young men and women from these other communities.

I wish you luck, you're going to need it because you don't have the skills necessary to make it in the world from District 131.

Anonymous said...

Clayton will never endorse a candidate but you can bet he will put his mark on the election. How do you think Hall was put on the Board. Do you think it was a coincidence that Hall goes to Clayton's church.

Do you think it was a coincidence that Hall took his daughter out of private school and sent her to East in her Sophomore year.

Like the prior blogger said college is expensive and when Dr Wilson & Adams are your adviser your chances went up.

How about Gonzalez who last time Morales gave the top spot to on the ballot.

Just wait till tomorrow when the Service Center leaves their mark on this years election.

Anonymous said...

Nobody has ever said that East is the BEST - all we have said is that now students from East are getting the chance to play the same music as other area high schools.

EAST AURORA DOES NOT PLAY IT AS WELL - But at least they play it now. At least they are exposed to classic band literature, are excited about performing it, and get the chance to expose their audience to it.

In your world it is be the best and 2nd place sucks - In my world it is give the kids a chance to rise to a challenge and they will.

Anonymous said...

No, in my world, second place is absolutely fine. It shows that you are being competitive.

Last place sucks. Pretending to place the game is not enough.

And in a school setting, it shows a lack of leadership by the board and administration.

Anonymous said...

You can't be competitive if you don't even play the game. Has to start somewhere.

Anonymous said...

That's true for the first year or so.

We are the first/oldest school district in the state. We are beyond just entering the game.

Anonymous said...

Riiight, do you even want to discuss the differences in education between 1890 and 2010?

Now, let's take a grown up look at the world.

Everything goes through rises and falls. Everything has it's up periods and it's down periods.

You can take a look at the housing market for an example.

The Chicago Bulls (did really well in the 90's with a fantastic team) no so well in the late 90's early 2000's when the team changed.

You can look at the cubs, who killed it in 1908 but have not won the world series since.

You can take a look at the East High band program that used to travel the world in the 50's, 60's and 70's and then stopped in the 80's and 90's.

Lot's of examples. The reasons for all of these examples are vast and plentiful but wouldn't it be nice to stop blaming everybody and support the good people who are trying to make things better?

Now this will be refuted with some sly comment about Roberts, or Liska, or the School Board, or somebody. The facts will be ignored and the truth will be hidden. Most of you can't step outside your HATE long enough to see the other side.

Anonymous said...

I would agree with you if it was a team here or there. If the football team had a few off years or if the volleyball team had a bad season but on the East Side substandard performance/failure is almost total throughout the district. The only exceptions are teachers and coaches who create success despite the system they must work in. What are the common elements for the entire district? Simply put, the administration and board.

Our kids deserve better than leaders who are only concerned with their own futures.

Anonymous said...

7:50 a.m., recordings of performances of several band pieces were posted under "Downloads" on the district band website. This was a year or two ago. I'm sure it's convenient for you to claim they were never there--too bad some of us have pretty sharp memories!

And on a positive change of subject: Ryan Boatwright scored 63 points at last night's game. Someday we'll be able to say "we knew him when".

:)

Anonymous said...

Wrong.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it nice for you to say "you knew him when?" That way you can feel good about yourself even though all you have accomplished in your life is insulting people and lying.

Anonymous said...

i love rudy reza! he is a mans man! <3

Anonymous said...

You would think the only thing people think is important in this district is how are band sounds or if we have a student that does good in basketball and maybe if they don't mess up their lives along the way is how to judge our district.

We should judge this district on how we educate our students. Being able to play a instrument or play a ball game is nothing if you don't have an education and this districts seems only to be concerned about a few not the whole student body.

Anonymous said...

9:17 mentions "insulting people and lying"--

How about the way administrators and School Board members insulted this community? Specifically, by flipping us off when we dared to question their plans to get rid of Mr. K. They basically told us "we don't care what you want; we don't care about your kids' best interests; we'll just go ahead with our little bully party and tell the community F*CK YOU". Now THAT'S insulting!

Fortunately, most of those School Board members who gave us the middle finger are gone. But if people like Barreiro and Salinas think they have a snowball's chance in hell of being re-elected, they're deluding themselves. And if administrators like Marin Gonzalez and Joe Harmon think we've forgotten how they treated Kaisershot, some of us will be glad to continue reminding them.

And that's NO lie!

Anonymous said...

Well said, 7:46 a.m.

Anonymous said...

This is where the distortion between truth and opinion comes to play. You say they gave you the middle finger because they did not do what you wanted them to do. That is not giving you the middle finger, that is them doing what THEY FELT WAS IN THE BEST INTERESTES of the kids.

Now, both sides can be argued as to what was the best interestes of the kids. I suppose that is up for discussion. But as it seems to me with this issue that neither side is budging so I guess at theis point it is moot to continue to discuss it.

Somebody making a decision that is opposite from your point of view is not the middle finger.

You need to get over your hatred and again look at it from the other side.

Anonymous said...

It's nor just that the administration made a decision that was against the communities wishes, it was the way they did it.

Hundreds of people marched to the service center but the administrators would not even come out of the building to hear what the community had to say. When community members expressed that they wanted a meeting with the superintendent, their only response was Clayton in the paper stating the matter is closed.

The administration did not take the communities wishes into their decision making process. It seriously pissed a lot of people off as is evidenced by the anger still present in this community five years later.

Simply put, this administration can never have the support of the community because they have shown repeatedly that they don't care about what the community thinks or its values.

Is there a way to mend the wounds? Short of replacing all the administrators and board members who were a part of that fiasco, I don't know what it might be.

Anonymous said...

Actually, most of the board members and administrators who were directly responsible are gone:

--"Serial Bully" Radakovich retired from D131 in 2006 and now collects a fat pension, PLUS a hefty salary as a full-time professor at Aurora University. But at least he can't bully any more teachers the way he did in 3 (or more) school districts!

--Rick Johnson is an administrator in Algonquin.

--Larry Malaker (School Board president and BFF of Radakovich) is retired.

--Carol Farnum has moved to Florida.

--Gordon Postlewaite (mentioned in a previous post on this thread) is retired.

--Bud Herbig is deceased.

--Daniel Barreiro and Fernando Salinas are no longer on the Board.

--Juanita Wells will be off the Board in the spring.


Only Marin Gonzalez, Joe Harmon, and Clayton Muhammad remain of the group who were directly responsible. When they are no longer with the district, true healing may eventually begin to happen.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Jerome Roberts.

Anonymous said...

How do you know they did not take your opinion into account? Clayton saying the issue is over is not dismissing you it is saying that the decision has been made and they are not changing. Maybe they heard all of your little arguments and decided that they were not good enough reasons to keep him. Again, you are pissed off because somebody disagreed with you.

Anonymous said...

Get your head out or your A$$.

They would have to speak to people to get their opinion. The administrators wouldn't even come out of the service center. They didn't say or hear one one word from the community. They cowerd in the dark like the vermin they are.

The decision was made in house and all the community received was a big F U.

They then went through a BS hiring process for a new director. Everyone they wanted as a director said forget it when they were made aware of the whole situation. The only one who agreed to take the job was Liska who was coming right out of college.

And as always, it's the kids who suffer from the incompetent and malice of our leaders.

Rudy Reza said...
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Rudy Reza said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Rudy you give more to this blog than most and you are refreshing in the fact that you are part of the band and the district now that moves on and doesn't live in the past. We need to make the most of what we have now and we can't change what has happened in the past but we can move forward and listen to the students we have now and give our support. The ones that keep bringing up the past just keep living in it and are not helping our students that are in the band now and are doing their best to move forward and give their best.

Anonymous said...

Rudy, I enjoy reading what you post except when you use profanity. It is offensive to me. I am not one of the other posters giving you a hard time, I just believe someone can get their point or thought across without the use of it. This is my opinion. You can make something of yourself with your education in D131 just like any other student. All that needs to be done is apply your learning and yourself. Many of us have done well that have graduated from East High. It is up to the individual to make their place in life and not find excuses why they are not making it. Don't pay attention to those nay sayers, you are going to do just fine.

Anonymous said...

I'm not worried about Rudy either. I'm worried about the 50% + of our students that drop out of school. I'm also worried about 75% of the students who are still at East who can't pass the States basic skills exam.

When you add those two figures together, You realize how badly we are failing the kids in our community. The freshman class begins with approximately one thousand students. Five hundred will graduate. Of those, only about 125 can pass the state exams.

Looking at the numbers this way, you begin to realize that only about 11.25% of our kids have a real chance in life. What is going to happen to the almost 90% who are failing?

You may look at these numbers and say our administration is doing a grEAt job. I see the pathetic failures that they are.

Anonymous said...

I read today that Tursa is re-running along with Sifuentes are running in today's Beacon. Talk about District cronies. Tursa always votes Roberts way and Sifuentes is on the Kane County Education Board. He also works for the Kane County and his daughter goes to our preschool.
The District always said they only take kids in the are low poverty and do not speak English as a primary language. Sifuentes does not meet any of the requirements yet his daughter never served on the waiting list. This man can clearly afford child care but favors got granted and now he will pay off Roberts with a yes vote.

Anonymous said...

I do support the kids in the band, because they deserve our support.

I do support the band director, because he is working hard and doing his best.

But the administrators who gave us the middle finger several years ago do NOT deserve our support.

Big difference!

Rudy Reza said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

8:29 p.m., you are misinformed if you believe that the D131 preschool program is restricted to low-income families. Some of our district's teachers and staff have sent their children to our preschool program; my own kids went to preschool there.

One of the main purposes of our preschool program is to give high school students experience working with young children. EHS students can take childcare classes which give them marketable skills and help prepare them for parenthood. The students get hands-on experience as they help with the preschool program, supervised by our home economics teachers.

It's a win-win situation, and one of the many positive things going on in our district!

:)

Anonymous said...

You are misinformed this is the District wide preschool program that provides busing, meals and a half day education. It is currently in all the elementary buildings. It operates on a grade system the more points you have the in the following areas the better your chance of getting in. Points are awarded based on low income, single parents, language issues, special ed needs and the children are tested. Currently the District has about 1000 kids in the program. Every year they offer less because they need classrooms since the building are over-crowded. As good as this program appears to be on the surface it creates over-crowded classrooms. It sounds like Mr Sifuentes does not meet the point system, so it is interesting that he would be able to have a child in the program. I do know others that are of a political nature and friends of Clayton's who get special treatment. I also know the waiting list is long and it can't hurt to be buddies with the Roberts to your child receives special treatment.
High-school students do not work in this position the District hires certified teachers. This is what makes this program so special, if you pay for preschool you would not receive these services unless it is a top notch preschool.

Anonymous said...

My mistake, 8:09. My only experience with preschool in D131 was the one run by the East High childcare classes--I don't know much about the government-sponsored program you're referring to.

Could it be possible that parents who are above the poverty level also send their kids to those preschool programs, but pay a higher fee based upon their income? If a program is good quality, middle-class parents will often be interested in participating (and supporting it financially) Maybe Mr. Sifuentes is in this category.

Anonymous said...

They all pay nothing and the District has trimmed this program back every year. It was set up for low income they currently don't use 4.2 million a year because of no space in the building. They have a waiting list is always over 1000 children.
One can argue it keeps the building full because any extra class space is given to preschool. The administration will tell you that they need this because all the kids going into this program are not exposed to any type of education in the home. This includes also basics like how to wash your hand, social skills, numbers and the alphabet.
This program also requires homework assignments and many of the children are teaching their parents. Again the cost is nothing. Does this sound like a program Mr Sifuentes who is employed as a court clerk and his wife who works for Waubonsee should be in.
Other Districts do charge, but this is a State program designed for low income.
Its funny the Board President always runs around talking about this be a award winning program and it is. The part she does not talk about or investigate is why are people like Sifuentes allowed to participate. Could it be because he is friends with Clayton like many others who are stealing from the government by sending their children there.

Anonymous said...

Today I received a e-mail blast from Clayton about Boys2men on district 131 time. He for the first time was seeking donations. Again on the district time. It was nice of the district to hire him a helper. The stories of him building the program on the districts dime appear to be true so why is the Board or Dr Roberts allowing this to continue. Why because its Clayton. Meanwhile, Roberts can sit up on his perch and say teachers assistance are a waste of money. Is it not a waste to spend money promoting a private club on district time.

Anonymous said...

I've seen professional photographers a few times lately at district events and I've asked them who had hired a professional photographer for a simple school event.

In the past Clayton would come to the schools as part of his responsibilities as Public Relations Person. Now, he is hiring professional photographers because he doesn't have the time.

We all know what he's doing instead. I wonder how much money it's really costing to keep Clayton hired and doing Boys II Men. How many assistants does he really have doing his job while he's busy with his illegal fraternity.

Anonymous said...

I wonder why.

Anonymous said...

Maybe those professional photographers volunteered their services to help our children (or maybe they were friends/family members of kids or staff). I know of several instances where parents have saved their kids' school some serious $ by volunteering to cook, take pictures, fix computers, chaperone, etc.

If this is the case, good for that school's administration for thinking "outside the box".

Anonymous said...

The photographers stated that Clayton had hired them. They did not state a building administrator had or that they were volunteering their services.

It was quite clear that they were receiving payment for their services and that they were contacted and hired by Clayton.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone send that e-mail blast to the superintendant and all the board members? Better yet, send it to the superintendant but blind cap to the board so Roberts doesn't know anyone sent it to the board. Or just send it to the board since neither the superintendant or Clayton seem to be on many of the board members good list, especially the president. About the ones taking the pictures, did anyone ask them if the district is paying for them to do it? That would be the first thing I would do, then try to get their name, etc. After that I would decide what to do with the information.

Anonymous said...

If you did receive a email blast from Clayton about donations let all of us see it you can copy and post it on here. The Boys 2 Men are a partner of the district but things like that can not be done and if you do have it you can send it to the state to see if they can do something about it. I'm not a fan of Clayton but this would really be a big no no and if the board lets this happen then they all need to go but just posting it on the blog without showing it makes one think is it really true.

Anonymous said...

EXTRA*****EXTRA****
DID YOU KNOW HOW IS WORKING IN THE DISTRICT? Beatrice Childres mother, the director of the bilingual department and the mother works as a parent liason in one of our elementary school. I don't think is rigth. What do you think?

Anonymous said...

I think 7:31 is functionally illiterate.

Or drunk.

Or both.

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