Seal Team 6 in District 200?

At the June 8 board meeting, District 200 School Board President Rosemary Swanson described a trio of departing district administrators as "our own Seal Team 6" (referring to the assault team that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan).  When I first heard this, it just seemed like more of the usual hyperbole from the District.  But on second thought, maybe it is a good analogy, though perhaps not in the way Mrs. Swanson thought.  She's sorry to see these folks leave the District.  But we're not merely losing the services of these three administrators.  Just like the Seal team, these administrators are, in fact, "taking people out".  No physical violence is involved.  The assault here is strictly financial - they're taking out teachers when they go.

Under the curent administrator contracts, when an administrator retires, she's not off the books.  She already got her guaranteed end-of-career pay raises, but at least she was still working here.  She'll receive her pension, but that is an obligation of the State of Illinois.   But District 200 administrator contracts for these three individuals pay them some additional benefits, after retirement.  Specifically, each gets five (5) years of District-paid health insurance, plus life insurance until age 65.  The total cost of these benefits will be over $300,000.  That exceeds the cost of employing 5 teachers (average teacher compensation is much more than $60,000, but the District uses the 60,000 figure for budget purposes based on average entry level teachers).  The District budget for next year is balanced - by only $200.  That means every dollar spent on post-retirement benefits, is a dollar that can't be spent on educational services for current students.

Administrators and teachers should be paid fairly, when they're working for our students.  However, we cannot afford, or justify, golden parachute payments for already well-compensated retirees (the smallest pension among the three will exceed $120,000 a year).  This system has led to outrages like Dr. Gary Catalani "retiring" at age 57, then getting another job in Arizona while still collecting health insurance on the dime of District 200 taxpayers.

District 200 no longer posts the cost of the health insurance it provides, but last year it reported the cost of a family plan was about $23,000, and a single plan about $9,000.  Assuming a modest 5% annual cost increase, the cost of insuring these three individuals will exceed $330,000 over the next five years.