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A GREAT IDEA FOR LOCAL ACTIVISTS June 25, 2004 Wanna do something about the sad state of the government schools in your community? Opening the windows and airing the place out, so to speak, is a great way to start...and we just learned of a terrific new idea along these lines from News & Views reader, Seth Grossman, who runs a group in New Jersey called �Liberty & Prosperity.� What he�s done is take public record information about his community�s local school district and posted it on a simple website where folks can quickly and easily access it. http://www.libertyandprosperity.org/linwood-public-schools.php The site lists the names of all employees, their jobs, when they were hired and how much they�re being paid. As the website states, �You know what you pay your plumber, electrician, or dentist, so it's only fair to know what you pay these folks.� The information can be a real eye-opener. For example, L&P�s first website for the Linwood Public School System shows that Seaview Elementary School has two kindergarten teachers. Mrs. Mansueto is paid $36,000 a year...but Mrs. Sellevaag is paid a whopping $70,383. Yowza! That�s a MAJOR pay differential between two folks doing the same job, even taking into consideration that Mrs. Sellavaag has been at it a few years longer than Mrs. Mansueto. In any event, $70,383 to play games and lead sing-alongs all day with 5-year-olds? And with summers off? Hoo-hah! What a racket. Where do I sign? Oh, and how do you think Mr. Delaney must feel? Mr. Delaney, we discover on the website, teaches 8th grade at Belhaven Middle School...and pulls down $38,700 a year. I�d venture to say that teaching 8th grade academics is a far cry more difficult than kindergarten. This project is a work in progress. In addition to the personnel and salary information currently posted, Grossman hopes to add �other useful information, such as an explanation of the health and pension benefits that are also part of the salary package� along with �such information as number of students, student teacher ratio, income level of town, and achievement test results.� According to Grossman, �This way, citizens can determine the value they are getting for their dollars.� I can hardly wait to see how much Mrs. Sellevaag is pulling down after they factor in all the bennies and other goodies! Heck, it would even be interesting to post what the pro-rated salaries would be if teachers worked 12 months a year like the rest of us instead of only 9 or 10. Anyway, this is a model for a project ANY OF YOU can undertake in your local community if you are so inclined. All it takes is a very basic website and a little investigative work researching public documents. As for designing the website itself, I�ll refer you once again to Campaign Site Builder. It�s easy to use for techno-troglodytes such as myself...and can cost as little as ten bucks a month, including hosting. If you�ve never created a website before, I highly recommend using Campaign Site Builder. And you can find FREE step-by-step instructions for using it at: http://chuckmuth.com/campaignsitebuilder.htm Most people have a sense that �something� might be wrong with their local government schools, but can�t quite put their finger on it. Casting some light on what�s really going on in your local schools in an uncomplicated manner which average folks can easily access and readily understand would go a long way toward educating voters that (a) something is definitely broken and (b) something definitely needs to be done. If you�re looking for a positive and proactive way to help fix our broken education system, this is an excellent place to consider starting. And you can bet it will have the additional benefit of really ticking off the local bureaucrats and teachers unions. That alone ought to make it worth the effort! Chuck Muth President Citizen Outreach
