THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 12, 1995 TAG: 9511120118
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 166 lines
What's the best way to turn things around in this cash-strapped urban school district?
For some city leaders and residents, the answer has remained the same in recent years: Get rid of highly paid administrators, and schools will benefit from a windfall of cash.
The annual ``fat cats'' argument is bound to re-emerge in coming weeks as the district gears up for 1996-97 budget negotiations.
But a Virginian-Pilot analysis of the district's October payroll suggests that few of Portsmouth's 2,564 part-time and full-time workers are earning ``fat cat'' salaries.
Among the findings:
Seventy percent of all school district employees earn less than $30,000. Portsmouth's median household income is $24,601.
On average, teachers earn about $31,356. But about one in four takes home less than $28,000 - before taxes.
Only 18 district workers - including the superintendent - earn more than $60,000 a year.
Regional comparisons are hard to make because of differences in student enrollments, tax bases and experience levels of individual workers. Still, Portsmouth's low salaries stand out.
Take the 18 workers who earn more than $60,000. Many of the jobs in that bracket actually pay less than similar positions in some neighboring districts. And except for Suffolk, other South Hampton Roads districts devote a larger percentage of their payrolls to employees in that category.
In 1993-94, the average salary for Virginia's public school teachers was $33,144.
``There truly aren't any fat cats,'' Superintendent Richard D. Trumble said, referring to his district.
``As we've tried to point out time and time again, our inability to offer the higher salaries makes it extremely difficult to attract talented people'' to the nearly 18,000-student district, he said.
Workers' wages help illustrate the financial pinch, but adults aren't the only ones affected. In some schools, for instance, students aren't given homework out of textbooks because there are too few books for each student to take one home. A key reason: As books have worn out, the district has had little money to replace them.
In the past two fiscal years, Trumble has continued to trim the payroll, mainly by opting not to fill vacancies or to fill them internally. Many administrators now wear several hats. Insiders privately express concerns about a ``brain drain'' as veteran educators retire or take jobs elsewhere.
What's more, employees say, this school year is shaping up to be one of the most austere in some time - especially after the city cut its 1995-96 appropriation for public schools by 4 percent, compared with the previous year. Employees have complained mostly among themselves. But some parent activists are preparing a grassroots campaign to persuade City Council to pitch in more when budgets are approved next spring.
``I don't see a great deal of our money going into administration,'' said PTA Council president Lucy Thompson, who will lead the effort. ``That's an excuse people always use when they would rather support a pet project than fund our schools.
``All of the schools are really hurting now,'' she added. ``The PTAs used to raise money for programs or extra things. Now, we're being asked to raise money for basics, like PE equipment.''
Thompson and other parents are especially worried about what will happen if Congress approves further cuts in federal education funding.
Things are tight all over, several City Council members said.
``The city government is always looking at ways to right-size and provide the appropriate work force,'' said council member James T. Martin, echoing comments of other council members interviewed last week. ``That should apply to all parts of the city. We've all got to be looking for ways to use our available resources as best as possible.''
Principals and teachers say such talk doesn't address the day-to-day reality in schools. They've felt the squeeze in a variety of ways:
The popular magnet school program in six schools saw its budget cut by nearly 30 percent.
Olive Branch Elementary had a yard sale last month to raise extra money for easels, games and supplementary reading books - primarily for kindergartners and first-graders assigned to the school for the first time under a ``community schools'' plan.
Churchland Middle School Principal LaDaniel Gatling said his school recently scrapped its afterschool tutorial program because the district couldn't afford to pay bus drivers additional wages to transport the students home.
At the beginning of the academic year, principals were told that they could spend only 30 percent of their school budgets - which are used to buy things like paper and lab materials. The administration often puts a temporary freeze on such ``discretionary funds'' in the event that an unanticipated bill pops up, like a maintenance emergency.
``Increasingly, the choice is: Do you want education or do you want education?'' said John Tyler kindergarten teacher Christine Munroe. ``. . . We're not talking about frills.''
The operating budget for 1995-96 is $85.2 million, slightly under the $85.6 million for the previous year. The district, one of the poorest in Virginia, hopes to break even with additional state aid. When the City Council approved the $1 million cut in school funding, the district administration - with School Board approval - reshuffled the 1995-96 budget, slashing accounts for staff development, travel, maintenance and instructional supplies, among other areas.
Thompson, the parent activist, said her group planned to collect data showing how much parents had contributed to schools so far this year. She said the organization would present that information, as well as totals from last school year, to the City Council.
Parents, she said, are willing to pay more for schools. But she said the greater responsibility must be shared by all city residents.
``Their philosophy is, `Well, you did it with this little money, so you can do it again,' '' she said, referring to City Council members. ``But we parents have had to supplement that money. We're all being told that we have to come into the 21st century, improve technology, get kids to meet higher standards and everything else. But it's like we have a budget for the typewriter age.''
In March, former City Manager V. Wayne Orton said the cut in city funding for schools ``could be absorbed through streamlining without affecting classroom-related areas of the school system's budget.''
The cut was ``not at all about stepping back from our commitment to education. . . . A careful examination of the staffing and enrollment patterns, as well as administrative and non-instructional expenditures over the last several years, supports the wisdom of this recommendation,'' he said at the time.
More parents are now questioning that decision.
``It's really obvious that the school system is in pretty bad shape,'' said Leigh Hudson, a mother of two school-age children. ``When it gets to the point that my daughter comes home and tells me she can't bring one of her books home, that really upsets me. It all adds up to a real disadvantage.'' MEMO: SALARY COMPARISON
A Virginian-Pilot analysis of the Portsmouth school district's Oct.
31 payroll suggests that - contrary to popular opinion - few of the
2,564 part-time and full-time workers are earning top dollars.*
Only 18 district workers - including the superintendent - earn more
than $60,000 a year.
Below is an annual salary comparison for three high-ranking
administrative positions in area school districts. Precise comparisons
are hard to make because of differences in student enrollments, city tax
bases and experience levels of individual workers.
SUPERINTENDENT
Chesapeake: $102,475
Norfolk: $131,000
Portsmouth: $111,193
Suffolk: $76,158
Virginia Beach: $120,170
DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT
Chesapeake: $86,793
Norfolk: $99,876
Portsmouth: $77,251
Suffolk: Not applicable
Virginia Beach: $101,110
ASSISTANT (OR ASSOCIATE)
SUPERINTENDENT FOR
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION (OR FOR INSTRUCTIONAL
SUPPORT SERVICES)
Chesapeake: $81,308
Norfolk: $93,225
Portsmouth: $71,718
Suffolk: $64,293
Virginia Beach: $82,781
* The Portsmouth payroll analysis included employees who were paid
with state and federal grant money. Salaries didn't include fringe
benefits.
Source: The school districts
KEYWORDS: SALARY PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS BUDGET PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL
BOARD by CNB