Cut administration costs – Letter to the Beach Reporter by David Burns

The following letter to the editor was published in the Beach Reporter newspaper (TBRnews.com) on Thursday, January 21, 2010 in the Letters section. The Beach Reporter has a strict 250-word limit.

Letters To The Editor

Editor’s note: Last week, we asked our readers about how school districts can cut costs.

(Updated: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 4:10 PM PST)

Cut administration costs

ESUSD can costs of the administration. The superintendent is paid a gasoline stipend and car allotment that should be cut; it amounts to more than $10,000 annually. The superintendent should also take a 10-percent to 15-percent pay cut as the top administrator, showing leadership by example. The other administrators (superintendent’s staff) should take a 10-percent cut across the board. The ESUSD administrators have sat idle and quiet in dealing with the economy, taking pay increases and using reclassifications to mask past pay increases. They also want to take the same percentage cut that teachers may have to take.

Asking the teachers who make between $30,000 and $70,000 annually to take the same percentage pay cut as a person making more than $150,000 annually is grossly unfair and demonstrates poor leadership. The ESUSD should implement graduated pay cuts, like the University of California system did in 2009. The example of cuts could be like 2 percent for those earning less than $50,000, 3 percent for $60,000, 4 percent for $75,000, 5 percent at $90,000, 6 percent at $110,000, 8 percent for $125,000, 10 percent for $150,000 and above, 15 percent for $190,000 and above.

ESUSD should sell the Imperial School site and find other cost-cutting measures. Those earning the most should take more in cuts.

David Burns, El Segundo