Though they'll call it a sabbatical, Allentown School District is buying out Dr. Russ Mayo. Instead of buying the last year if his contract, five school board members will pay him to be absent. This financially irresponsible decision is the handiwork of School Board Prez David Zimmerman wants Mayo out because the Superintendent refused to give him preferential treatment when his child was supposedly the victim of bullies.
I understand the formal vote will take place tomorrow night, and Mayo will not be there.
The Board will embark on a year-long search for a new Superintendent, but they've become too political to attract anyone with any ability. As they've demonstrated time and again, like with Mayo's predecessor, there's little interest in ability. They'll look everywhere for a superintendent who is black or at least slightly tanned.
I hear Michael Frassetto is available.
35 comments:
I personally think this is a great decision. Dr. Mayo was a staunch Corbett supporter who never met a teacher layoff or a budget cut he didn't like. He even lied and said Corbett crony Ron Temalis was an excellent consultant when Corbett needed someone to say Temalis was not a no show $100k/year liason between Harrisburg and the school district. I think he's been a disaster. I don't know thst he's been in Pawlowski's back pocket but I think I've heard things to that effect.
Robert,how many teachers could be hired with the money the board is throwing away onthis
Note the repeated references to Corbett. This is a political decision, not one designed to enhance educational opportunities in Allentown's failing schools. With Nayo gone, who will you blame next as Allentown schools continue to suffer?
All school districts should be 100% Charter Schools, with the brightest kids going to the most challenging schools. Kids should be assessed based upon past grades, and annual achievement tests.
Believe me, I know. I lived it.
Ramma Ramma Ding Dong
Iknow the teachers union wanted him gone. They will be picking the next one.
I'm confused.
How much is he being paid for the "sabbatical", vs. how much would he have been paid over the last year of his contract?
What's the advantage of forcing him out now? I would think the search and hiring process would take time.
Unless they have someone already identified to be the new superintendent, they're going to be paying an interim Superintendent PLUS Mayo.
You are thinking quite clearly, and I'm no Mayo fan. This is no different than what got Bangor in you blew with the state auditor general. It is financially irresponsible.
There won't be any significant change in the Allentown School District unless they get rid of the teacher union - that's not going to happen; they shed down the management bureaucracy of the district, it's not an employment service - that's not going to happen; and the parents care about their children's education - and in large part, that won't happen as long as the ASD has to educate inner-city kids.
So they replace Mayo with another Mayo with a different name and expect things are going to change?
Not likely. If you want your kids to have a decent education, move out of Allentown to the townships and send your kids to those districts.
This "sabbatical" is a fraud foisted upon the district's taxpayers by vindictive and self serving members of the ASD board. The truth is Dr. Mayo very likely had little choice but to accept the "sabbatical". If he had refused this offer, as he apparently turned down the buyout, the board, led by David Zimmerman and Charlie Thiel would have seen to it that his life as superintendent would have been a living Hell for the last year of the contract. I saw enough of this behavior with my own eyes while I was on the board. The other drivers of this fraud are Ce-Ce Gerlach, Elizabeth Martinez, and Audry Mathison(former president of the Parkland teachers union). Apparently Debra Lamb and Ellen Bishop have agree to go along for the sake of "board unity". How ridiculous is that?
Only Mike Welsh and Bob Smith are solid no votes on this. But hey! This is Allentown; where the absurd, ridiculous, and corrupt pass for business as usual.
Zimmerman is a stand up guy in every regard.
There should be a hundred more like him in Allentown.
Two anonymous personal attacks, aimed at Scott Armstrong, have been deleted.
"Zimmerman is a stand up guy in every regard.
There should be a hundred more like him in Allentown."
I don't think anyone who uses the pseudonym "Squirrel," as Zimmerman did for years in the blogosphere, is anything close to a stand up guy. He's more like a squirrel. Unfortunately, there are a hundred more just like him.
I signed my name sir.
Hector Gonzalez
Yeah, and I'm Willie Ramirez. I know who you are and why you don't sign your name.
Funny how the poster who though Zimmerman was such a stand up guy would not attach his name to the post. Not much of an endorsement after all.
and just remember, Armstrong is the real problem.
I'm no fan of Russ Mayo, however, I can see the imprint of Fed Ed on the school board thru his lackeys that were elected with his extorted campaign donations. This is Pawlowski's legacy that will stain politics in Allentown for years to come. So while Mr. Ed is sitting in a federal can, his progeny can live on and on in Pawlowskiville. This is courtesy of Fed Ed, Michael Fleck, the Hamilton Street Mafia and all the other supporters and donors who kissed Pawlowski's ring! Fed Ed may be the root cause of the cancer, but the cancer has invaded all other parts of the body.
Here is an important example of the problems with PA K12. The new Superintendent of ASD is going to have a hell of a mess on his/her hands yet will get paid no more than a Supt of Nazareth or Salisbury school districts. Who in their right mind would take the job? We need to consolidate school districts and put half of these Supers out on their ear and then pay them appropriately.
Note the repeated references to Corbett. This is a political decision, not one designed to enhance educational opportunities in Allentown's failing schools. With Nayo gone, who will you blame next as Allentown schools continue to suffer?
There is no one to "blame". You could put the greatest minds in education in there and nothing is going to change the socio-economic barriers preventing students from achieving. If you put Parkland's leadership and faculty in ASD and ASD's in Parkland, there would be no change. Thinkng there would be is ignoring the obvious.
All school districts should be 100% Charter Schools, with the brightest kids going to the most challenging schools. Kids should be assessed based upon past grades, and annual achievement tests.
Great idea. Socio-economic segregation!
8:37 am said:
"Here is an important example of the problems with PA K12. The new Superintendent of ASD is going to have a hell of a mess on his/her hands yet will get paid no more than a Supt of Nazareth or Salisbury school districts. Who in their right mind would take the job? We need to consolidate school districts and put half of these Supers out on their ear and then pay them appropriately"
I'm constantly amazed at those who argue for consolidation.
The argument always seems to be "the smaller districts are doing well, the big districts are not. So we need to consolidate the small districts into an even bigger district to fix the problem".
That seems counterintuitive to me. Maybe the city districts have grown beyond their ability to monitor costs, and more importantly, student progress.
Perhaps the solution is breaking the larger districts into smaller ones. Doing so might allow the better district schools to thrive and grow better, while allowing the lesser schools to find solutions that work for them.
Consolidation looks great on paper, but I'm not sure we see much evidence of it working that way in the real world.
Vouchers, vouchers, Vouchers, give every parent 50% of cost per student, let them go to the alternative school of choice. Will cut costs to taxpayers, and give parents real choice in education. We could have many new private schools, they could be religious, or non religious, non union, non federal government agenda. Real freedom from the political, corrupt , system we have now. Let the parents decide how they what their children educated.
8.41 so you admit it is not about the best opportunity for the children, it is really about social engineering. we have been doing that for 60 years, are the kids really doing better? It should be about the children.
I never argued consolidation helps academic achievement but merely that it saves money. No reason to be amazed. It's simple economics.
10:29 - "Real choice"? They have "real choice" now. You can send your child to Notre Dame, Bethlehem Catholic, Swain, Moravian Academy, or St. Anne's and many others. Why do you say there isn't "real choice"?
10:33 - In your scenario, the kids in poor and low education households get the shaft. I don't call that being "for the kids". Giving equal opportunity isn't social engineering, it's public education, open for everyone. If you don't like that, then you have numerous choices. See my previous post.
You say you have a choice, but you pay for the bloated school system and the again for your choice. And if kids in poor families had a $6500, voucher, they also could have a real choice. It is all about supporting the government, union monopoly, not about the kids.
11:08 -
If consolidation turns the rest of our schools into the failures that we see in the larger districts, I think the money you're thinking that you'd save would come at an unacceptably high cost.
ASD already has high taxes and annually gets a huge supplemental appropriation from the state.
The district has many problems, but I don't think throwing more money at the problem would solve them.
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It is amazing how those people/groups/unions, that are staunch supporters of being PRO CHOICE , refuse to allow families to use the same PRO choice ideology, in sending their children to schools of their "PRO" choice. Choice only involves one issue with this same crew..
the real people who need to be questioned about this are the same ones who sit on the school board and approve this kind of contract shenanigans. Reminds me of the saucon valley tax payers having to buy out the a superintendents vacation days, personal days , un used sick days and so on. Tax payers had to foot the bill for a super that was hired. tax payers had to pay the bill from the last district the super was working at as a part of the conditions of the new contract...
See below the agreement the ASD will approve tonight to hire a consultant to do the search for the new Superintendent.
COMPENSATION: For services under this proposal GWEMC will be paid
$2,000 per day. One day shall constitute six (6) hours. The minimum billing unit shall
be one-quarter (1/4) day. GWEMC shall invoice ASD monthly. The maximum price for
the services under this contract shall be fifteen (15) days. GWEMC shall be
{00317782}
compensated for work performed in furtherance of the purpose of this Agreement, which
shall be invoiced along with the first monthly invoice payment for all services rendered
So $30,000 to look for a superintendent, that does not guarantee one is found. Looks like another sweetheart contract. how about an employment agency. I believe they work on a commission if one is found and some is paid by the new person.
12:50 - You pay school taxes to support PUBLIC education. The goal is to provide an education to EVERYONE despite special needs, language barriers, etc. Private schools will not admit just anyone so not everyone has this opportunity. Giving vouchers simply makes public education worse by sucking funding from them. It's a bad idea and not well thought out. Again, the private system is there and waiting and guess what? Many give financial aid to those who cannot afford the tuition.
5:03 - Again, there is plenty of choice. Your school taxes don't fund YOUR child's education, they fund ALL children's education. We live in a capitalist society which provides public education to all with no exceptions. If you need or want something different, you have many options. You could move. You could go to a private school. You could be more involved in your child's education. Every single year, there are many, many children from ASD and BASD who go to elite universities. Don't put the blame for failing schools on educators, the students who want to succeed do so. Soon, I will have no children in school. Do I expect to stop paying my "bloated" school tax? Hell no.
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