Pop Quiz

How much is the Superintendent's salary? Just off the top of your head (and no peeking if you have the data). Because I thought I knew and then got a copy of how much everyone in the district gets paid and I was surprised.

Bonus points if you know who the second highest paid person in the district is (but go ahead and guess).

Extra bonus points if you know the gap between that person and the Superintendent.

Put your guesses in and I'll let you know at the end of the afternoon.

Comments

seattle said…
Super $240,000 YR. plus car allowance and bonuses.

Second highest paid: Dr. Einfeld?
$140,000 yr ?

WV please don't flaeme
Sahila said…
Super gets around $375K/year all up... and I think this cos Kay Smith Blum told me it would cost $750K to buy out the last two years of her contract...

Guess that $750K might include some padding to counter the issue of making adjustments to personal plans and maybe tarnishing of reputation, but I'd guess the $375K isnt far off the mark...
Maureen said…
I remember $240,000 in salary. I figure she gets the same health etc. benefits that everyone else does, but have heard she gets a car allowance and some extra retirement related money, so that might get compensation up to $260,000 plus standard benefits? Would guess 2nd highest is Don Kennedy or maybe chief counsel? At about $150,000 plus standard benefits.


(WV is entspan which geeks like me know is a long time!)
h2o girl said…
I believe the super gets $240,000 a year, plus other compensation like a car allowance. My guess as to the 2nd highest would be Don Kennedy.
Charlie Mas said…
I hope it's okay if I play.

The superintendent got $240,000 when she started, but after the first year she got a 10% raise, so her salary is now $264,000. In addition to that she gets contributions to a retirement plan worth another $22,000 a year (I think). She also got about $5,000 in bonus pay this year. There are some perks on top of that - like the car allowance and a gym membership. And, of course, she gets the full suite of benefits available to all staff, such as health insurance, dental, vision, life, AD&D, etc. I would estimate the value of her total annual compensation package as about $350,000.

As for the SECOND highest paid person in the District, that's a good question. It could be one of the "C" level executives such as Mr. Kennedy or Dr. Enfield. I would reckon their salary around $140,000. I would include Mr. Ikeda in that group. As an attorney, he might command more, but the District is awfully cheap.

On the other hand, if there were a physician on staff anywhere in the system then I might guess that person. The top salaries at the University of Washington (after the football coach and the President) are all in the medical school. I just can't think of a medical doctor on the SPS staff.

So my guess would be Mr. Kennedy with a total compensation package (salary and benefits) of about $160,000 annually.

I can't wait to learn the answer.
Patrick said…
I don't object to paying that much in salary. It's a large and difficult job. Whether the current superintendent is the best person for the job is, of course, another question.
Dorothy Neville said…
I was just coming to point out the raise to 264K, but Charlie beat me to it. Can't believe that so many of you guys forgot that! The actual bonus was 5280 yes? Number of feet in a mile?

Total package at about 350K makes sense. I also would guess Mr "I'll get back to you" Kennedy would make a lot. Either he or the district's attorney is probably number two.
Sammy said…
I am going to guess that this is variable dependent on if you count retirement contributions.

For example, I found out that Gary Ikeda quietly gave himself a 30% raise when he was in charge of HR that he never gave back when a new HR director was hired, but he is a super expensive employee in addition because he is under an older retirement plan that caused the district to have to give him double the retirement contributions of most employees. I would take a guess that if you look at benifit contribtion requirements, he would be #2.

But, if you are looking at strait salary, maybe someone like C R-T.
Meg said…
So just in salaries:
#1, the Superintendent, at $264k.
#2 would be Don Kennedy, at $189k (more, as I understand it, than the last Superintendent made).
And #3, I think, is Susan Enfield, at about $175k.
Okay so Charlie and Dorothy had it right (and even I thought it would be wrong).

In 2009, the Superintendent made $304,115.94 with $55,206.09 in benefits. That's a total of $359,322.03.

In Washington State, UW President Mark Emmert is the highest paid government employee at about $518k plus house and benefits. MGJ's salary is in line with the president of WSU. In comparison, the Governor makes about $166K, Supreme Court Justices, $164K.

Do I think it would be worth it for someone great? Given the state of public education, I would. Given her record so far, no I wouldn't. LEV says she's "talking the talk" and they want to give her another whole year to "walk the walk". I wonder when they expect to see results.

Ah, and you were all close but wrong on our second highest paid employee in 2009 in SPS. That would go to former John Marshall principal, Joe Drake, coming in at a whopping $249K including benefits. Nice work if you can get it.

But yes, Don Kennedy comes in 3rd at $238k including benefits. Great pay for a COO who has yet to explain the district's poor showing on the recent audit which, yes, is very much in his line of accountability.

I think many people would be surprised at how much our principals make, especially for high school (it's around $150k with benefits).
Sahila said…
OK - so what do I get for being the closest guess at $375K? In NZ we give out chocolate fish... havent seen them here... or pineapple chunks - do you have those?
Charlie Mas said…
Joe Drake got so much because he got two years' pay as severance.
Charlie Mas said…
Joe Drake got two years' pay as severance in lieu of two years with persistantly negative performance reviews that would have been required to fire him.

Before the District fired him he only had positive performance reviews from the Education Director for high schools, his buddy, Ammon McWashington.
Sammy said…
No fair, one time payouts of settlement agreements should not count! :)

Out of curosity, who is third if you take out Joe Drake?
If you took out Joe Drake, it would be (probably) Susan Enfield. Carla Santorno was third after Joe Drake at $218k so I would assume Susan Enfield is in that range. Ammon McWashington is number 20 at $162k.
Patrick said…
Melissa, where did you get that number for Mark Emmert? I'm seeing 620K in pay, plus 250K in deferred compensation, plus the mansion, car, and benefits. Plus what he makes for being on corporate boards.
Patrick, I got that from a Times' article. I didn't mean the money from sitting on boards. Point is, he's the highest paid person in WA state that works for the government.
Sammy said…
Doesn't Pete Carroll count as a state employee?
dan dempsey said…
Hey Folks,

On Thursday at 10:30 AM a legal appeal of the Superintendent's July 7, contract extension will be filed at the King County Court House.

I will post the link to the appeal filing here. (needs some fine tuning) Then you can see the incompetence that $350,000/year bought.

Thursday July 22, is going to be a double-header day.

Thursday at 1:30 PM at the King County elections office filings for recall and discharge of each of 5 school directors will be submitted.

If you haven't read the audit issued July 6, 2010 you might not understand why the above two legal actions are being taken.

There are two Audits of the Seattle Schools released each year. The second hasn't been released yet. It will cover Finance and compliance with Federal Laws I believe. It should be released within a month or two.
dan dempsey said…
Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson's Contract was extended one additional year to through June 30, 2013 by the Board on July 7, 2010.

This extension will be appealed with an initial filing on Thursday July 22, 2010.

A draft of this filing is HERE.

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