Management Raises Not Done Deal
Thefrontpageonline.com has learned that the administrative salary proposals — which showed up in every Culver City newspaper last week — are “not a fait accompli.” Three sources familiar with the School Board said that salary discussions for sixteen managers are in the “exploratory” stage. A Teachers Union activist said she hopes that the sheer force of a chorus of voices from angry teachers will be sufficient to at least “slow down” any momentum building for a raise. School Board insiders previously have explained that management throughout the School District deserves the hefty proposed pay hikes for the same reasons that teachers do — both are underpaid compared to some other districts. While the term “underpaid” is not necessarily subjective or pejorative, salaries for various managers range from the upper level to the middle to near the bottom. In Union-generated publicity last week — when teachers resumed picketing in front of Culver City High School — hundreds of screaming sheets were widely distributed. According to the flyers, the School Board has been mulling catch-up-type raises for the management team, ranging from 2 percent to 43.8 percent. Board sources say the Union language needs “to be corrected because nothing is even close to being finalized. Of the numbers that became so public last week, some persons may receive a large or smaller percentage of that. Or, they could receive the entire raise, but not in a lump sum. Or their raises could be phased in.”
Defending the Superintendent
Two of the sources said that a supposedly proposed twenty-five percent raise for District Supt. Dr. Laura McGaughey — who retires on July 31 — is not necessarily as firm as the increases for some of her colleagues appear to be.
School Board insiders starchly have defended recent and future hikes for the Superintendent on the grounds of either previous agreement or merit since her $123,699 salary is ninth among nine districts surveyed. If the near-retiree wins the 25 percent increase that has been publicized, her new salary would vault her into the middle of the pack.
