LETTERS

School Administrator, June, 1997

Losses at Retirement

FRED C. SALES

Adjunct Professor, College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

Susan Jernigan's other wise excellent article, "Dangerous Expectations: Why a Superintendent Search Often Breeds Discontent and Unsatisfying Results," in February just touches on the problem of superintendent retirement pay loss when crossing a state line.

She suggests school boards establish financial plans to offset these losses, but the problem is far deeper and basic. Why shouldn't a superintendent own a financial stake in every retirement plan within which he or she works, since in most cases the superintendent is mandated to be part of it.

When I retired, I had 20 years in state A, 10 years vested in state B, and three in state C. In order to put together the years of service required in state A, I had to buy in the other 13 years. State B, where I was vested but not old enough to retire, permitted me to use those years in state A as long as I signed a release to retirement rights in that state. I was permitted to buy in to state A by actuarially paying for all years worked in states B and C.

This arrangement cost me an annual loss of retirement income in excess of $10,000.

We need federal legislation that establishes a dollar value for every person's retirement account, an amount guaranteed for every day worked, and an elimination of vesting. This established value should then be transferable to the state where the person finally chooses to retire. Even the receipt of 50 percent to 75 percent of the value of the account (assuming the sending state put a penalty on leaving) would be far better than getting zero.

It's time for AASA to deal seriously with this problem, and while they are at it to make the law retroactive to correct the losses that many of us live with everyday!

Privatization's Benefits

BY LAURIE OHMANN

Vice President and Partner, The Public Strategies Group, St. Paul, Minn.

In his article, "A Leap of Faith," in the January issue, Max Sawicky raises key issues about contracting with private entities to manage public schools. However, his conclusion that none of the private contracting arrangements has yielded evidence of improved educational outcomes is premature.

Our company, The Public Strategies Group, has provided leadership to the Minneapolis, Minn., Public Schools for the past three years under a pay-for-performance contract. Contrary to Sawicky's contention that nothing in the contracting relationship motivates business firms to improve education, our contract directly ties our financial success to the success of the students. It was not happenstance, but purposeful and morally imperative that we designed a contract with the school board that ensured our benefit only when the benefit to students was evident.

While it is true that sustained efforts are required to improve educational outcomes, the initial evidence does exist in Minneapolis and is encouraging. Last year, Minneapolis elementary students posted the district's largest gains in both math and reading scores in the past five years. We also are beginning to close the gap in student achievement between white students and students of color.

Under the company's leadership, the district has embarked upon a systematic process of gathering and evaluating data beyond achievement tests to include indicators critical to student success like curriculum and instructional effectiveness (Sawicky's "standards") and family and community involvement (Sawicky's "universality"). This information is published regularly for the community's review

While this capacity is indeed central to evaluating any reform efforts of the private sector, it is a capacity central to evaluating student success as well. Although the district may be "renting" leadership in Minneapolis, it is this focus on student achievement and evaluating performance that will permanently increase the district's capacity to that all children learn.

A Different Tune

BY JAN GIETZEN

I am one of the band parents in the Utica, Mich., Community School District requesting a waiver of the physical education requirement for marching band students, who were referenced in an Across the Nation item, "Heavy Tooting," in the December 1996 issue.

Our attempt to convince the school board of the need has been resisted at every turn by the superintendent. Your misleading coverage is an example of the hurdles we face in our attempt to truthfully inform our board.

In our state, a local board may opt to waive, either by policy or procedure, the one state-mandated phys-ed class and one health class. Many of our sister school systems have chosen to take advantage of this options without loss of accreditation.