Comments on: Pennsbury citizen group pushes for transparency http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535 Sunlight on Board-Union Contract Negotiations Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:48:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Paul Fisher http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535&cpage=1#comment-13585 Paul Fisher Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:23:59 +0000 http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535#comment-13585 Wow! I wonder how long it took this group to assemble this information...and what the Right to Know Request looked like? I bet the Right to Know Official nearly died on the spot. There are a few things that can also be added including: value of accumulated sick days, value of accumulated personal days, value of GASB 45 retirement benefits, and value of tuition reimbursements. I would also be curious if the salaries include any extra/co-curricular positions held by those individuals Although this may be considered somewhat extreme, it certainly goes to dispel any salary rhetoric head on! Wow!

I wonder how long it took this group to assemble this information…and what the Right to Know Request looked like? I bet the Right to Know Official nearly died on the spot.

There are a few things that can also be added including: value of accumulated sick days, value of accumulated personal days, value of GASB 45 retirement benefits, and value of tuition reimbursements. I would also be curious if the salaries include any extra/co-curricular positions held by those individuals

Although this may be considered somewhat extreme, it certainly goes to dispel any salary rhetoric head on!

]]> By: Steve McKinzie http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535&cpage=1#comment-13584 Steve McKinzie Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:47 +0000 http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535#comment-13584 Wow! It's really wonderful what they have done in Bucks County. This is exactly the kind of transparency in negotiations that needs to emerge throughout the Commonwealth. It really does no good for boards or unions to talk about percentage increases or even benefits, if the public lacks a clear sense of what that means in actual dollars and cents. Steve Wow! It’s really wonderful what they have done in Bucks County. This is exactly the kind of transparency in negotiations that needs to emerge throughout the Commonwealth. It really does no good for boards or unions to talk about percentage increases or even benefits, if the public lacks a clear sense of what that means in actual dollars and cents.

Steve

]]> By: Fred http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535&cpage=1#comment-13583 Fred Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:18:58 +0000 http://www.schoolboardtransparency.com/?p=535#comment-13583 Justin -- Almost all committee sessions are open to the public now (and publicized in advance). The only legitimate topics for executive sessions are student disciplinary hearings, pending or potential litigation, union contract negotiations and most kinds of personnel decisions. (I don't think I've left anything out.) One problem is that most people find what we do tedious and boring. That's especially true for the important stuff, which requires some homework. Another problem is that many school board members aren't greatly worried about being voted out of office. We're unpaid, so it's not as if we're losing money if the voters fire us. I've been elected five times now, and in every one of those elections I've put some time into trying to persuade other people to run. The average tenure of school directors in this state is (or was when I last checked) only about four years -- one term. Most of them aren't thrown out -- they just leave for their own reasons. A better strategy than videotaping meetings is to demand more information on the district website. Check out the Sunshine Review's Pennsylvania Project, especially the report cards on school district transparency. Many districts don't make it easy to contact school board members. Few provide financial information in user-friendly form. Almost none publish the union contracts that drive costs and influence educational quality. For any given piece of information, I suspect that it would take only a half dozen or so Open Records Law requests to result in the requested data being posted online, if only to avoid the hassle of reproducing the documents involved. Justin — Almost all committee sessions are open to the public now (and publicized in advance). The only legitimate topics for executive sessions are student disciplinary hearings, pending or potential litigation, union contract negotiations and most kinds of personnel decisions. (I don’t think I’ve left anything out.)

One problem is that most people find what we do tedious and boring. That’s especially true for the important stuff, which requires some homework. Another problem is that many school board members aren’t greatly worried about being voted out of office. We’re unpaid, so it’s not as if we’re losing money if the voters fire us. I’ve been elected five times now, and in every one of those elections I’ve put some time into trying to persuade other people to run. The average tenure of school directors in this state is (or was when I last checked) only about four years — one term. Most of them aren’t thrown out — they just leave for their own reasons.

A better strategy than videotaping meetings is to demand more information on the district website. Check out the Sunshine Review’s Pennsylvania Project, especially the report cards on school district transparency. Many districts don’t make it easy to contact school board members. Few provide financial information in user-friendly form. Almost none publish the union contracts that drive costs and influence educational quality. For any given piece of information, I suspect that it would take only a half dozen or so Open Records Law requests to result in the requested data being posted online, if only to avoid the hassle of reproducing the documents involved.

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