I’ve been reading about the director of the L.A. County Fairgrounds who recently decided to step down . He said he thought that he would be a distraction if he stayed in the job . If you can’t stand the heat , get out of the kitchen .
Last year he made one million , forty-five thousand dollars in total compensation . He’s done a wonderful job , according the the board who hired him , in 1995 , and he’s earned every penny . 1995 was the last year that the Fair was in the black . It’s been hemorraging money for years .
I was a teacher for a long time . My salary never quite reached the million mark . I had my head in the sand , though , now that I think of it . I should have been a CEO . My mistake ! Sometimes we just follow the wrong paths in life .
Teachers have been under the microscope for several years for several reasons . If the students don’t learn , then the teacher is blamed and the public demands that the teacher be fired . Can’t have bad teachers . Salaries , many say , should be based on results of testing . If classes don’t learn , it’s the teachers’ fault , clearly , and there should be swift consequences . Never mind the myriad of other factors that may be involved in a child’s education : school district idiocy , troubled home situations , unintended ( usually ) sabotage by inept school administrations , etc .
Evidently top -level CEOs don’t share the same accountability as teachers . If the Fair loses money year by year , that didn’t affect the director’s salary . In fact , he got hefty raises and fat bonuses , higher and higher every year . Why ? Because , say those handing out the taxpayers’ money for his $million+ compensation , he was doing a great job . A wonderful job .
There . Now I got that out of my system .
itkindofgotawayfromyou 
The people who are paid for performance also, usually, have the option to lay people off, in order to improve their performance. Putting pressure on teacher salaries always reminds me that, eventually, you get what you pay for. I’ve been involved with our school district through a number of committees, and I’ve rarely been impressed by the administration, but I’ve frequently been impressed by teachers. Then, teachers go on and become administrators and something goes south in the process.
I’m glad you got to vent, Dan. It’s a lot easier to pin the responsibility on teachers than it is to address the systemic problems that impact learning – like poverty, inadequate funding for education, and upside down priorities. I worked in business and then later in mental health. What I did as a mental health counselor was more important than what I did as a sales person, but I made three times as much selling as I did healing. Go figure.
Funny how that happens / or / I hate when that happens .
Ah! So yur the lad responsible for wasting my tax dollars on edurkating childs on how to shpeel and write numburs. In my day, you teacchurs got payed a hole lot les, and look at how fine i terned out! We shood be usin that ole hickree stik on youze guyz!
And you’re right , of course . 🙂
Reminded of the John Stewart song, “Back in Pamona,” off his Willard album, 1970.