LCPS - Austerity for Teachers, Not Central Office

Stan Rounds
Las Cruces - Only a few scant months since teachers and school principals were told that the Las Cruces Public School district was essentially broke and that every pencil and eraser would have to be counted to make sure there is enough money to open the schools in August of 2011, it has been revealed that former LCHS principal Nyeta Haines' salary this year, as "principal on special assignment" at the district's central office, will be $92,000. Many observers believe all the austerity trumpeting directed towards professional educators at LCPS, that were also accompanied by nods directed towards Santa Fe, were for show. This summer, LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds is reportedly growing the size of his administrative staff again. In addition to adding Haines, administrator Herb Torres, who was feted in a good-bye bash as a recent retiree, has also been rehired by LCPS as a special consultant. According to News New Mexico sources, this count is up to at least four "special assignment principals" now drawing salaries at the central office of LCPS.
Susanna Martinez
Earlier this year conflicts between the Martinez administration and the Albuquerque Public Schools over resource management issues were widely reported. Similarly, it appears that these administrative expansions at the LCPS central office seem to directly contradict the objective of creating an administrative austerity philosophy that was encouraged by new Governor Susana Martinez in the wake of the state's budget woes. We also have reports that the additions to the size of the administrative staff at LCPS have not gone unnoticed by school teachers who are deeply frustrated by what many of them perceive to be duplicity and a complete lack of shared sacrifice.

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1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greed. It's what drives those in higher positions to believe in the necessity of employing each other. The "Good Ol' Boy" system is alive and well in NM.

The first step toward managing the budget is to fire all the administrators. They are and always have been unnecessary, except in their own eyes, to the proper and smooth functioning of any angency. Administrators suck the lifeblood out of the system and blame the workers.

Once upon a time there was a saying:

Too many chiefs and not enough indians.

Too bad these adages are all but forgotten in our society. Heck, if one looked around at saw all the wisdom available, one might realize we don't need superintendents who make $200K+. They are not here for the job. They are not here because they care. They are here for the bucks.

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