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Stars align on symbolic school board pay trim

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By TOM JACKSON

Published: October 9, 2009

Every rare now and again, political people do things for political reasons that also turn out to be the correct thing. When these unlikely stars align, it is well and proper that congratulations, and perhaps even a modicum of praise, should be heaped upon the actors.

So it is that we tip our symbolic fedora to members of the Pasco County School Board, who trimmed their remuneration nearly 3.5 percent Tuesday, at once acknowledging their duty to help limit the strain on the district's books while also doing precisely what was necessary for each of them to remain politically viable.

In total, their self-imposed cut amounts to $6,470, or about one-third of how much the district spends on bus fuel on an average morning.

So we're talking symbolism here. Symbolism, notably, directed by Tallahassee, which ordered school boards across the state to compare the salary recommended by the Legislature to that of a starting teacher within the district, and to adopt the lower of the two.

Which, after some perfunctory debate, is precisely what the board did. Indeed, nothing in the statute would have prevented members from slashing their pay by a third. Not that This Space favors drastic reductions, on the theory that, below a certain threshold, you get what you pay for.

Still, the gesture is not utterly without merit, as we shall see.

Terrible idea avoided

Possibly thinking they were doing their jobs by being forceful advocates for their constituency, the Florida School Boards Association (who knew?) presented some fancy math as a way around the Legislature's edict. Change the multipliers!

First, divide the starting teacher's annual salary by 196 working days, arriving at per diem compensation. Then multiply by 245, or the typical number of working days in a year for more traditional employees. Adopting that scenario, Pasco's membership - including Cathi Martin - could have voted themselves a $7,000 raise.

The association's recommendation was, to say no more, unconscionable, possibly even nefarious. And Pasco board members knew it. So, instead, they did the right thing. The minimally right thing, but the right thing nonetheless. We say: Way to go.

Which brings us to the United School Employees of Pasco, the collective bargaining arm of teachers and other district workers, which rarely misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Anticipating the salary-setting meeting, the teachers' union didn't exactly distinguish itself, rallying the troops by suggesting board members were planning to adopt the salary-boosting methodology. The board and district were deluged with angry - and worse - objections.

Schadenfreudian

The even-handed Kathryn Starkey, rarely one to scold the union, broke with tradition. It unnecessarily inflames "emotions of employees when you put out inaccurate information."

Not to mention that, even if accurate, their complaint - as it pertained to union interests - was irrelevant.

With no evidence to indicate that district employees would in any way be shortchanged by what board members were paid, the union nonetheless indulged an embarrassing case of compensation envy, among the worst - and pettiest - of modern America's cultural maladies.

Board members gave themselves a haircut. Is a single teacher financially improved for the decision? Not even by a dime. OK, maybe they're all happier for having the board share their tough times. The word for that is schadenfreude - delight in others' misery - and it's not much to be proud of.

Better to acknowledge, as we did at the top, that board members did the right thing, mostly for the right reasons. If it also was politically necessary, well, we're not ones to fuss over considerations not materially our concern.

Tom Jackson's "The Jax Files Weekend" airs Saturday mornings at 11 on WGUL, 860 AM.

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