Teachers’ rally photos
November 9, 2009 10:52 pm
Working for peanuts
1,500 marchers stretched almost four city blocks
Teachers are being asked to return to pre-2007 pay levels, even as they take on more responsibilities.
Teachers hit their 500th day without a contract this week.
Robb Cowie watches the festivities from above with a friend. (“George, are you all right? Do you need any police?”)
Steve Rawley published PPS Equity from 2008 to 2010, when he moved his family out of the district.
filed under: Labor Relations, Photos
November 9th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Impressive turnout for teachers very tired on a Monday—fed up doesn’t describe our feelings in this district. How nice of Rob Cowie to watch the underlings from his perch up above..!!!!
November 10th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Love your ticker at the top of the page.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
So did anyone ask Robb Cowie about the newly hired Director for Strategic Partnership under his department and what kind of salary this person will be paid? I bet it would be more than $100K. As I have written earlier, how can PPS Central Office save $1M as a result of central office reorganization? . Robb Cowie got a $15K increase. Deputy Superintendents each got $13K raise. They all got administrative assistants now, some are newly hired. Cliff Brush surely got a raise and a brand new admin. assistant. Susan Kosmala got a raise. Sarah Allen got a raise….. None of the chiefs returning to schools as school principals got a pay reduction. Tax payers should be asking about the $1M reduction in the central office and make sure the information is accurate. Since the PAT union is focusing on Robb Cowie, I would like to know how he got promoted and a big raise like what he got. What management experience and education-related skills did he bring to the district? Or did he just happen to be at the right place at the right time or is Zeke and Carole’s favorite. How is he managing his department of 50+ plus employees now when he came with no people managing experience from Multnomah County? This is just one of the examples of how PPS reorganization efforts benefited a few at the detriment of others.
Robb Cowie, in my estimation, is a benefactor of white privilege to its truest sense. Let’s hope he will make an attempt to pay back by doing something good for the people of color in the system.
The teachers’ strike is going to be imminent and let’s hope that teachers won’t settle for less.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Oh, the $1 million is “accurate,” all right. Anytime there is a reshuffling, some positions get “eliminated” on paper, thus resulting in “savings.” What PPS (or any other similar organization) does not make public is what they DO with the “savings.” Fortunately, John, I think you answered that question in your post!
November 11th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
The deputy supts. not only got executive assistants, they’ve got “region administrators,” too. So while it looked like we converted n area director jobs to n – x deputy superintendent jobs, we’ve actually got eight administrators, two for each region.
We’ve got three directors in community involvement and public affairs, five in finance, seven (!) in HR, six in operations and four in system planning and performance.
Directors make $89-112K; executives $115-145K.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I counted 10 Directors in HR if you include the Assistant Directors and Jeff Fish whose title changed from Performance Director to Legal Counsel.
How long has Jeff Fish been in HR? Maureen Sloane never could do the legal work and always had to consult PPS’ lawyers.
HR now has 2 lawyers (at least on paper) on staff. How much does the district pay in addition to their salaries for outside legal advice? And kids go without homework because schools don’t have copy paper.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Carrie, thanks for the insight. Assistant directors, BTW, make $80-104K. Assuming the attorneys make something in the same range (I don’t see them on the salary schedule), there are 11 administrative types listed in HR making at the very least $10K more than the most senior teacher with a PhD.
Makes me wonder how many “managers” are not listed on the org chart in HR…
November 11th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the dozens. Don’t forget that these “manager” positions are also used for a place to park failed principals until they can retire. . . .
November 11th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
BTW, the new Strategic Partnerships program director will be getting $80-91,000/yr. Can’t wait to see how that plays out.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
There should be 11 Directors in HR if you count the Director for Diversity. I believe this Director makes $100K at least. But how do you explain to the taxpayers how PPS accounts for the work of almost 50 FTE’s in HR? BTW, I am almost 100% certain the new Director for Strategic Partnerships will be paid more than $100K since he is leaving a post with the county that already pays him more than that.
It will be very interesting to see how all this is going to be played out. I also heard that there will be press release regarding the hiring of this new position/person.
We have not had this position since John Brannam left to run for the City Council. Why do we need this position now especially Carole Smith asked all departments to freeze new hires to save money. Oregon is one of the 10 states predicting to be suffering the same fate as California. Should we be conserving rather than spending?
I was wondering whether Robb Cowie needs this person to run his show?
November 12th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Zarwen, I second your comment about “manager” positions to put failed principals–ABSOLUTELY. There are more examples than I can name, at least one currently “promoted” to admin. CREATED position because they needed to be put somewhere. This is not a new practice in the district.
To be fair, this “shuffling” is also is done with teachers, but I know of at least 3 forced resignations of colleagues (classroom teachers), so it seems a whole lot easier for the PPS to get “rid” of teachers even WITH a union.
The last I heard the district say, only 4% of the budget goes to admin—does anyone have info on this, because it sounds way off to me.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
It depends on what you put under the umbrella of “admin.” Could be these ex-principals, for example, are considered part of “school staff and support” even though they don’t work in buildings that contain children. I notice there is also a category called “Buses, Buildings and More” . . . what would “and more” be, exactly? Ah, the beauty of statistics . . . you can make them say anything you want!