[Mpls] School District COO & praise from the Star-tribune

[Gypsycurse7]

Comment on the Star-Tribune editorial of 13 December 2001, Minneapolis 
Schools: Jennings should serve district well.

The Star-Tribune expects Dave Jennings to "help the district weather 
challenging financial times" as chief operating officer, Jennings "...is well 
know and respected across political, business and community lines...[and] 
...has worked closely with the district to establish strict performance 
benchmarks and measure progress toward them."

Jenning's "unique insights about balancing business and education needs" are 
also valued by the Star-Tribune.  Presumably, the school district's job is to 
provide employers with workers who have just the right amount of education 
and the right kind of self-image and outlook.  The schools are preparing 
students to function in jobs and other roles for which their education 
prepares them.  Those are the goals to which the district's new 
accountability system is aligned.

And let's not forget that Jennings was also the CEO of the Minneapolis 
Chamber of Commerce, which provided some of seed money for the "better 
schools referendum" in 2000.  As COO, Jennings will no doubt use his 
industrial relations, public relations and marketing expertise to help the 
district administration sell its package of budget cuts to MPS employees and 
the larger school community.

Jennings is evidently not being picked for his expertise as a corporate COO, 
since his job experience in that area appears to be rather limited.  
Moreover, it seems that the district is already managing its finances pretty 
well.  According to the Star-tribune editorial, "A national group of school 
financial officials had awarded Minneapolis top honors for several years in a 
row, placing the district in the top 1 per cent of well managed schools 
nationally."

Can money be saved on administration costs?  Absolutely not!  "The 
Minneapolis district is not top heavy; it devotes 4 per cent of its budget to 
administrators -- well below the 10 per cent considered reasonable under most 
business models" says the Star-Tribune.

However, comparing the administrative costs of businesses, including private 
schools, to the administrative costs of a public school system is like 
comparing apples to oranges.  Administrative costs are generally much lower 
for public schools than for businesses. According to Berliner and Biddle, "In 
1990-1991 the average salary paid to central-office administrators and 
professional staff in the nation amounted to only 2.2% of school district 
operating budgets" [1995, Berliner, David C. & Biddle, Bruce J.; The 
Manufactured Crisis, page 81 // 1992, Robinson, Glen &  Brandon, David, 
Perceptions about American education: Are they based on facts? p. 17]. 

No confidence should be placed in the current board to resolve the current 
budget crisis without further weakening the public school system in 
Minneapolis.  The strategy of the current board, of attempting to "preserve 
excellence" for the few at the expense of the many should be rejected by the 
working class in Minneapolis.

-Doug Mann

Doug Mann for School Board

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Re: [Mpls] School District COO

[Gypsycurse7]

Why wasn't this job opening (school district Chief Operating Officer) 
announced before it was filled?  Mr. Jennings has some experience as a highly 
compensated executive, but how much as the chief operating officer of a 
company?  I think it is possible to find a better qualified candidate for the 
job who is willing to work for less. (I know someone with more than a decade 
of experience as a corporate COO.)  

As the saying goes, what you know is less important than who you know.  I 
very much doubt that Mr. Jennings is being hired for his COO-related 
expertise.  There wasn't even the formal search process that was done for the 
diversity director post, filled by Steve Belton, hubby of the mayor (now 
ex-Mayor) of Minneapolis.  If job related qualifications were all important, 
the job opening would have been advertised in order to create a large pool of 
qualified candidates to chose from.  Of course, if that had been done, it 
might have been tough to justify the hiring of Mr. Jennings over a number of 
other qualified candidates, much tougher than was the case with Steve Belton. 
 

In a message dated 12/12/2001 12:27:36 PM Central Standard Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [Audrey Johnson, Minneapolis BOE director) writes:
> 
>  First, about the Chamber's role in the referendum, the Minneapolis Chamber
>  opposed the referendum in 92, was neutral in 96 and was a supporter in
>  2000.  Mr. Jennings was Exe. Director in 2000.  This year the state chamber
>  opposed the metro area referenda, not the Minneapolis Chamber.  Mr.
>  Jennings was personally involved with the Measuring Up report, and is very
>  serious about fiscal accountablitity of the district.
>
It seems to me that the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce is more supportive of 
the MPS board and administration because the MPS board and administration are 
trying harder to please the Chamber of Commerce.  The "measuring up" report 
and the new accountability system are public relations gimmicks.  What else 
can you call a school report card that says a school is a success story, yet 
most of the kids in that school are not expected to pass the Minnesota Basic 
Standards tests and complete their high school education?  

And if you believe that Dave Jennings was hired to help the district save 
money as far away from the classroom as possible, there's a bridge on the 
market that I want to tell you about.  

>  ...In the most recent audit received from
>  Deloitte Touche last night, MPS is running very lean on administration, the
>  district admin costs are at a little over 4% of expenses.  Deloitte Touche,
>  McKinsey Group and EDS are all outside business consultants, 2 of which
>  have provided analysis of finances for MPS pro bono (for free).  All 3
>  firms have stated emphatically that the district is running too lean in
>  this area.  Deloitte Touche has been saying this for at least 3 years prior
>  to this year as well.  Most non-profits run at about 9-15% in admin costs,
>  private schools run at about 8%.  

All of the business consultants say that the district is running too lean on 
administration.  Is the hiring of Dave Jennings in line with a recommendation 
to run less lean on administration, that is, to increase the district's 
administrative costs?  Is the answer to the districts financial problems a 
doubling of its administrative costs?

The Minneapolis School District may be running lean on administration by 
comparison to the average business, but I doubt that it is running lean on 
administration by comparison to the average school district.  According to 
Berliner and Biddle, "In 1990-1991 the average salary paid to central-office 
administrators and professional staff in the nation amounted to only 2.2% of 
school district operating budgets [1995, Berliner, David C. & Biddle, Bruce 
J.; The Manufactured Crisis, page 81 // Original source: 1992, Robinson, Glen 
&  Brandon, David, Perceptions about American education: Are They based on 
facts? p. 17]. 

>  The Mpls School District is in serious financial
>  trouble.
>  
>  This is true.  In this fiscal year, the district had a budget cut of $30
>  million.  Next year's budget is projected to be about another $30 million.
>  The school district is the 13th largest employer in the state with an over
>  all budget for this year @ $660,000,000.  I can think of no business this
>  large that operates without someone to oversee and have direct oversight of
>  all finances.  But the difference here is that in the private sector, the
>  COO of the CFO makes a lot more than $125,000.  
>  
The serious budget problems facing the Minneapolis Schools didn't come about 
because the district didn't have a Chief Operating Officer to keep track of 
the district's use of chalk and paper clips.

In a recent City Pages article by Britt Robson, the budget shortfall is 
attributed to rising costs for health insurance premiums paid for by the 
district and rising transportation costs.  

However, it 

Re: [Mpls] School District COO

[ABerget]

At the time I left the BOE, the fastest growing segment of the budget was the cost of 
health insurance. I dunno if this is still the case - bet it is - but it is a MAJOR 
problem for virtually all employers, especially public ones. And degradation of health 
coverage shifts the costs back on to citizens, one way or another, either through 
increased out-of-pocket costs or through heavier usage of free/public health 
facilities, or - worst of all - refusal to seek health care when necessary.

Not an obvious culprit, but a powerful one.

Ann Berget
Kingfield
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Re: [Mpls] School District COO

[Robert Velez]

So if the district is so lean on administration, where are the shortfalls?

Labor, I know, is the biggest cost in any business, but I am sick of Jason Lewis 
blaming the Teacher's Union for pricing themselves out of jobs.

I visited Patrick Henry H.S. last night since we are in the process of selecting a 
High School for my daughter.  The only thing that stuck out was the abundance of 
Macintosh computers.  I still don't think that that is a huge part of the cost 
overruns.  Although I must say that if it wasn't for public schools, I think apple 
would be bankrupt.

What about the "red tape" or "compliance" positions.  How many staff have to be 
dedicated to those endeavors?

What about trimming the extras like some of the things advertised in the Henry lit:

Band trips
Language trips to France, Spain, etc.
More and more sports offerred

Or how about all the continual re-working of these programs: IB, Open, Fine Arts, 
Engineering, etc.  there's got to be a lot of complaince and red tape costs for the 
constant retooling of these schools.

I agree with those that say the jury is still out on how much impact class sizes have 
on kid's educations.  I went to the New York City public schools (you can imagine the 
class sizes then and now) and was prepared for life after High School just fine.  I 
realize that's just me, though...

UGH!  This is such a frustrating topic.

Bob Velez
Shingle Creek
Ward 4




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Re: [Mpls] School District COO

[doodle]

I am happy to respond to Mr. Stolarek's inquiry.  There are never simple
answers, so this is a little long.

>>Having just read David Brauer's recent posting
>>announcing the appointment of a COO by the Mpls School
>>District's Superintendant to help her with the
>>District's financial problems, I am inviting the list
>>members to either explain to me publicly in the form
>>of a posting or privately chastise me as to why I just
>>don't get it!

First, about the Chamber's role in the referendum, the Minneapolis Chamber
opposed the referendum in 92, was neutral in 96 and was a supporter in
2000.  Mr. Jennings was Exe. Director in 2000.  This year the state chamber
opposed the metro area referenda, not the Minneapolis Chamber.  Mr.
Jennings was personally involved with the Measuring Up report, and is very
serious about fiscal accountablitity of the district.

Here's the scenario:

The Mpls School District is in serious financial
trouble.

This is true.  In this fiscal year, the district had a budget cut of $30
million.  Next year's budget is projected to be about another $30 million.
The school district is the 13th largest employer in the state with an over
all budget for this year @ $660,000,000.  I can think of no business this
large that operates without someone to oversee and have direct oversight of
all finances.  But the difference here is that in the private sector, the
COO of the CFO makes a lot more than $125,000.  

Mr. Jennings job will be to oversee the increasingly complex finances of
the district and he will be able to help the district save money where
needed and and reduce costs as far away from classrooms as is possible.
The first 6 months of his salary will be paid from a McKnight grant.  The
cost benefits should well exceed his salary in 6 months time.  It is the
Superintendent's intention to do every thing possible to enhance and
preserve teacher/student relationships and to more closely focus on
education, which is the business of any school district.

Since the early 1990's, the schools have been put into the position of
needing to borrow money to cover expenses until the payments from the state
come through.  Meanwhile, the interest accrued on the payments to about 350
school districts across the state sits in the bank collecting interest.
During that time many of the 350 districts have to borrow money and pay
interest on that borrowed money.  The interest paid on that borrowed money
is determined in part by the amount of money any given district holds in
its unreserved fund balance, a kind of savings account.  

Minneapolis has had to withdraw or put less away away for the last 5 years
due to rising cost but no real dollar increases save for the first year
after Ventura was elected when money was given on a one time only basis.
This savings account, or more commonly known as a rainy day fund, is
suppose to keep the districts operating if no more money were to come in.
Currently, in Minneapolis that is at $13,058,000.  That's enough to keep
the district running for 4 1/2 days.  Interest is also determined by an
entity's ability to tax its community.  The school district has a tax levy
that is capped by the state.  With the recent tax changes, the district has
less control of it's financial future, which causes lenders to raise
interest rates on borrowed money just a little bit more and all of that
cost comes from taspayers.  Some government entity someowhere will have to
pay interest, this puts the burden on school districts across the state.  

In the recent shift of taxes, in reducing or removing property taxes to pay
for schools (which was a more stable income for the school district), the
state has picked up a much larger portion and is now facing a $2 billion
shortfall.  The state is more dependant on sales tax which is adversely
affected by an economic recession as we are facing here.  According to the
department of revenue, our state is going to be hit harder than many other
states given the type of economy we have.  So the long range forecast is
not good.

And that surplus that Jesse was adamant about returning?  It mostly came
from the interest accrued on the school districts payments collecting
interest in the state's account.  In shifting the taxes, the state has a
new payment schedule for all districts and almost all districts will be
borrowing to cover expenses until the state payment comes through again.
This will cost taxpayers more, so the shifting of taxes hasn't decreased
taxes, it has merely changed which pocket tax payers will be paying out of. 

The over paid superintendant looks for another job in
Tennesse.

In a  recent comparsion done by one of the major TV news channels, a
comparable business the size of MPS pays its CEO over $1 million.  Private
schools in the area, such as Blake or Breck, pay their top directors more
than $190,000. and they have far less students, no special education and no
unfunded state or federal mandates.  In the most recent audit receiv

Re: [Mpls] School District COO

[Brobson34]

Steven Stolarek writes:

"I thought financial integrity of the school district
was the responsibility of the Superintendant. So now
she needs someone to help her do what she is already
overpaid to do? I don't get it. The school district
has to lay-off staff and at the same time hire a
$125,000 COO.  

I am asking and pleeding with the list members to
straighten me out on this! Being that I am not a
caring and sharing liberal-I need to be educated on
this matter.

[BR]
I too am skeptical of this maneuver. Off the top of my head, I figure it might have something to do with Jennings being a former Republican Speaker of the Minnesota House and subsequently a presumably effective lobbyist at the Capitol. The Republican House helped pull the rug out from education financial planning--with MPS a particular target--in the last session. If Jennings can be an effective advocate for the MPS among the legislators who hold the purse-strings next spring, his $125,000 could be a bargain.
Or, here's another scenario that a proudly unsharing and uncaring non-liberal like Mr. Stolarek might appreciate: For years people have carped at the MPS for not operating more like a business. It seems to me that a fat raise for the CEO (Superintendent) and the hiring of a COO to share even more of the booty and perhaps someday take the fall is in the great Minnesota business tradition of Honeywell, Northwest Airlines, et al.

Britt Robson
Lyndale

Re: [Mpls] School District COO

[j harmon]

Toss in the fact that the current mayor's husband was recently added to the 
school district's payroll for a modest $80,000/year in addition to being 
provided a $400/month car allowance and your head will likely NEVER stop 
spinning...as is mine.
JHarmon
Cleveland



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[Mpls] School District COO

[Stephen Stolarek]

Dear List,

Having just read David Brauer's recent posting
announcing the appointment of a COO by the Mpls School
District's Superintendant to help her with the
District's financial problems, I am inviting the list
members to either explain to me publicly in the form
of a posting or privately chastise me as to why I just
don't get it!

Here's the scenario:

The Mpls School District is in serious financial
trouble.

The over paid superintendant looks for another job in
Tennesse.

The bleeding heart school board doesn't like it so
they give he a whopping raise to keep her here.

The school district is still in a serious financial
situation.

The now really overpaid superintendant hires a COO for
$125,000 to work with her on the districts's serious
financial problems.

Being that I am not a caring and sharing Liberal, here
is the part that I don't understand:

I thought financial integrity of the school district
was the responsibility of the Superintendant. So now
she needs someone to help her do what she is already
overpaid to do? I don't get it. The school district
has to lay-off staff and at the same time hire a
$125,000 COO.  

I am asking and pleeding with the list members to
straighten me out on this! Being that I am not a
caring and sharing liberal-I need to be educated on
this matter.


Thanks,

Steve Stolarek

Mpls. 


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