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Subject: superintendents are due six-figure 
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:18:46 -0400
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Many superintendents are due six-figure retirement deals
by John Mooney /The Star-Ledger
Wednesday August 13, 2008, 9:00 PM
More than 30 New Jersey school administrators could be due six-figure 
retirement packages at a time the state is trying to rein in administrative 
costs, according to data the state released Wednesday.

By far the highest is a previously disclosed $740,876 retirement deal for 
recently retired Keansburg Superintendent Barbara Trzeszkowski, the package 
that initiated new state rules targeting "excessive" payments for sick-day 
buybacks and other compensation.

But the state's first statewide accounting of all such compensation 
indicates numerous high-priced administrator deals were already in place 
last year and, therefore, will not be covered by the new regulations.

For instance, among those reported to be entitled to more than $100,000 upon 
retirement were Wall Township Superintendent James Habel ($221,242), 
Somerset Hills Superintendent Peter Miller ($217,396) and even a business 
administrator, Guttenberg's Jolene Mantineo ($258,802), according to the 
state's data covering the 2007-08 school year.

Robert Aloia, Bergen County Vocational and Technical Schools' 
superintendent, would see a $190,000 retirement deal, according to the 
state, and is also entitled to $61,000 in annual buybacks of sick and 
vacation time. That's on top of a $231,000 base salary.

"There are definitely some benefits or compensation that wouldn't conform 
with the new regulations," state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said. 
"They confirm what we have been saying."

But questions immediately surfaced as to the validity of some of the state's 
numbers, a repeat of last summer when the state released the data for the 
first time but was forced to pull it back after errors were discovered.

For instance, the state's own monitor in the Paterson schools, Mark Kramer, 
was initially listed for a $178,750 retirement package on top of his 
$165,000 yearly salary. But state officials said the figure is incorrect and 
Kramer is not entitled to any retirement package.

Officials conceded the data may include other errors as well, stressing the 
figures are all self-reported by the districts, and a review of the figures 
was ongoing.

"This is the first time we have done this and don't expect it will be 100 
percent perfect," said Kathryn Forsyth, communications director of the state 
Department of Education.

The details arrive in New Jersey's first statewide release of administrative 
pay and perks in each district in 2007-08, as well as district spending and 
revenue for 2008-09.

"Citizens have a great deal of interest in knowing how their education tax 
dollars are being spent, and this new resource gives them a way to access 
that information quickly and easily," said Davy in releasing the 
information.

The full data set can be found online at 
www.state.nj.us/education/finance/fp/ufb/.

The administrative pay is sure to draw the most attention, as Gov. Jon 
Corzine and the Legislature have pressed hard for districts to curb 
administrative spending in a bid to control rising property taxes. The 
Legislature this year enacted several regulations that capped sick and 
vacation time buybacks and prohibited separate severance packages. Lawmakers 
also gave the state power to review administrator contracts.

For most of the 3,500 administrators listed, this shouldn't be an issue. 
According to the state's latest data, a vast majority would see retirement 
payments well below the caps, if any at all. The average was slightly over 
$10,000, on top of a typical salary of about $108,000.

State associations representing administrators and school boards said they 
support state efforts to make school finance information more accessible to 
the public. But they stressed administrative costs represent only about 10 
percent of overall school spending, one of the lowest percentages in the 
nation.

"The pay has been really dictated by the market," said Mike Yaple, a 
spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association. "It's not much 
different than that of other states in the region."

Richard Bozza, director of the state's school administrators' association, 
said the state should apply the same rules to other government rolls and 
recommended "all categories of New Jersey public employees follow the 
example established for school administrators and be required to immediately 
release their respective data."

regards,
Horace Corbin, Publisher
The Westfield Leader & The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times
www.goleader.com