The following article was selected from the Internet Edition of the Chicago Tribune. To visit the site, point your browser to http://chicagotribune.com/. ----------- Chicago Tribune Article Forwarding---------------- Article forwarded by: Michael Lach Return e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-50033,FF.html ---Forwarded article---------------- Vallas could get $50,000 pay increase By Ray Quintanilla Arguing that the $150,000 salary of Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas lags behind what top education officials are paid in other major cities, Board of Education President Gery Chico said Monday he wants to talk to the mayor about giving Vallas a raise. Chico wouldn't say what he had in mind. But sources say a raise of between $40,000 and $50,000 is under consideration. In the five years since Mayor Richard Daley appointed Vallas, the schools chief has not had a salary increase. Nor have his senior aides. Vallas said through a school spokesman Monday that he hasn't sought a raise and none so far has been offered. But some school officials say the board feels it's time the leader of Chicago's public schools was paid a salary that's competitive with similar positions around the nation. In Los Angeles and New York, for instance, superintendents earn $250,000 and $245,000, respectively. In Evanston, Supt. Marty Murphy is paid $183,000, and also receives a housing allowance. But raising Vallas' salary, which would have to be approved by the school board, may not be easy. For starters, Chico said he plans to talk about the matter with Daley, who has expressed his disappointment that standardized test scores are not rising fast enough and the pace of school reform has appeared to slow. In scolding school officials last week, Daley called for a redoubling of efforts to bolster reading and math in the schools.Giving Vallas a "competitive salary" would also mean paying him as much, if not more, than the $192,000 Daley receives. School reform organizations said they have no qualms with Vallas getting more money. Some groan, however, that Vallas has not given the schools all of his attention in recent months during the time he was exploring a run in next year's gubernatorial election. A week ago, Vallas announced he would not run for governor and pledged to place all of his efforts into running the school system. Don Moore, executive director of the reform organization Designs for Change, said Vallas needs to pay more attention to the "expanding school bureaucracy" and finding ways to improve the conditions of many schools. "We have seen the central office staff grow considerably over the years," Moore said. Meanwhile, he added, the physical condition of many schools has continued to deteriorate. Chico's comments came during a news conference with U.S. Rep Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) in which the congressman unveiled federal legislation he sponsored to bring school districts across the nation $175 billion over the next five years to expand and renovate schools. Because Chicago has the nation's third largest public school system, city schools would receive a large portion of the funds, the congressman said. "It establishes a federal-state partnership through which large urban districts, suburban schools and rural areas will be able to compete on an equal footing for grants for construction," Blagojevich said. Under Blagojevich's plan, unveiled at Wells High School on the Near Northwest Side, school systems with pressing capital needs could apply for grants. The grant would cover 70 percent of the cost of a project. The congressman said with the federal government expected to run massive surpluses in the coming years, now is the time to allocate funds for school construction. Chico endorsed the plan, now pending before Congress, saying city schools need about $2.5 billion for capital improvements and the expansion of existing schools. Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun introduced similar legislation during her years in the Congress, only to have it stall. -- This is the CPS Science Teacher List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
