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State targets number of superintendents, salaries

BY BRENT STEWART
THE SOUTHERN

One of the most controversial proposals in Gov. Pat Quinn's Feb. 15 budget address was the formation of a commission to examine reducing the number of school districts through consolidation. Kelly Kraft, budget spokeswoman for the governor, said Illinois' 869 districts are more than any other state in the U.S., excluding California and Texas.

Kraft said the governor would like to reduce the number of districts to 350, which would, at minimum, save the state $100 million on district superintendent salaries.

"Over 270 superintendents in our state make over $177,000 a year, which is more than the governor's salary," Kraft said. "These superintendents - I'm sure they're all doing a fabulous job - but right now, during our state's fiscal challenges, we need to take a look at where we can find cost-savings for taxpayers."

Matt Vanover, spokes-person for the Illinois State Board of Education, said his agency has yet to see a proposal from the governor and, as of now, has not taken a position on the issue of school consolidation. However, Vanover said, in general, the ISBE recognizes the need to consolidate districts in certain contexts.

"Would you see savings on the administrative end if you had fewer districts? Would you have fewer administrators? It's likely you probably would," Vanover said. "You'd probably have fewer superintendents, fewer transportation directors, fewer coaches; you may see a reduction in the number of teachers. Each individual district is going to be different."

Southern Illinois

Looking at the most recent numbers from six counties in Southern Illinois - Franklin, Jackson, Perry, Randolph, Union and Williamson - the number of districts does not necessarily correlate with number of students or superin-tendent salaries.

Williamson County has the most students, 9,440, and only five school districts. With district superintendent salaries totaling $763,014, the cost per student is $81.

Franklin County has the most school districts, nine, with 6,199 students. Their district superintendent salaries total $1,075,027, at a cost of $173 dollars per student.

While Williamson County has the lowest cost per student, Union County has the highest at $231 with 2,943 students and $678,461 in superintendent salaries over seven districts.

Matt Donkin, regional superintendent of schools for Franklin-Williamson counties, said their district make-up evolved over a number of years, through several waves of consoli-dation.

"We're unique in this part of the state in that we handle a lot more medium-size communities that were coal mining communities," Donkin said. "We had a lot of (5,000) to 10,000 population towns that all had their own school systems."

Franklin County

Within Franklin County, there are several small districts of only a few hundred students. Ewing Northern Community Consolidated District 115, Thompsonville Community School District 174 and Akin Community Consolidated School District 91 all have less than 400 students with their own superintendents who make more than $80,000 a year.

The idea of streamlining administrative costs by eliminating districts is a difficult one, especially considering the historical and emotional ties local populations have with their schools.

"(Those communities) kept their separate districts through the years because the local voters there think they have different audiences, different needs and different goals, educationally," Donkin said. "It's something the local groups in each of those areas haven't pushed yet, although there have been conversations. At some point, either the local people there or the local school boards may come to a point of saying ‘yes, let's take a look at this.'"

Easy targets?

In using consolidation to eliminate district superintendent salaries, Brett Clark, executive director of the Illinois Superintendent Association, said an incentives are welcome, but it shouldn't be forced by the state.

"This one-size-fits-all approach just won't work in Illinois, due to the diversity of our state, our cultures, our geographies, our communities; and that's why it needs to be left to local people to decide this," Clark said.

Clark said the local school boards and communities want to hire the best superintendent possible and often market value dictates pay to get the person with certain credentials.

"A community treasures that and puts that as a priority and they're willing to pay for that," Clark said. "And it ought to be their decision because they're dealing with their kids."

Gary Kelly, superintendent for Du Quoin Community Unit School District 300 and president of the ISA board of directors said solely looking at superintendent's salaries is an easy target.

"Usually, it's the highest paid person in the school district and sometimes, it's the highest paid person in a community," Kelly said. "But there's a lot of responsibility there. There's an education those people have to have to be certified, so if we're talking about the value of an education, there should be some value to what they do. Those who are making more than (the governor) is - that's a decision by the school boards to pay those people that.