McHenry County Blog

Both of the daily newspapers that cover Elgin took aim at the U46 School Board Sunday.

The Daily Herald decided to see if $400,000 Superintendent Connie Neale really was paid less than her peers.

Guess what?

She’s paid a lot more.

Part of the Daily Herald headline reads,

pay far outpaces peers across the nation

I saw a nice graphic at Jewel, but it wasn’t worth $1.50 to get it. (A friend of the blog sent me a copy, which I have posted. Click to enlarge.)

Holding student population and household income constant, reporter Emily Krone’s first paragraph well summarizes her research:

Elgin Area School District U-46 Superintendent Connie Neale this year will be paid at least $100,000 (43%) more than any superintendent in the country directing a district of similar size and wealth.

Meanwhile in Elgin’s Daily Courier News, the editorial calls on the school board to

Hold off on approving U46 chief’s contract

until after the school board election in April.

The commentary bites like a shark.

The fish on the Elgin School Board do not get off with a "Fish are our friends, not food" approach.

Complimenting school board member Daniel Rich for resigning after realizing he had made a mistake by going along with the others in giving preliminary approval to hiking Neale’s compensation to $400,000, the editorial says,

We owe Rich a debt of gratitude, if not for his dogged pursuit of taxpayer justice, then certainly the alacrity to recognize the futility of further service.

Further down, the Courier News editorial longs for the transparency under former School Superintendent Marvin Edwards.

Millionaires were made behind closed doors at taxpayer expense.

But that would imbue the remaining U46 board members with a sense of shame, embarrassment and failure of responsibility that they obviously lack. We would have settled for

• insincere contrition;
• a Clinonesque furrowed brow and pursed lips;
• perhaps just a vague and meaningless promise to reconsider.

But the egregious avarice goes without apology.

They showed their contrition by denouncing Rich and filing for re-election. The dogs may bark, but apparently the caravan moves on.

How many of Elgin's incumbents do you think the Daily Courier will endorse?

Labels: Connie Neale, Daniel Rich, Elgin School District, U46

All three daily newspapers have taken whacks at the Carpentersville School District 300 Board.

None have mentioned the school board elections until Sunday.

That’s when Elgin’s Courier News editor Mike Bailey gave more than a clue.

His weekly column had a fairly neutral headling:

Anti-incumbent mood here

About three-fourths of the way through the column, Bailey writes,

Incumbent school board members face well-deserved and more virulent voter wrath.

In District 300, the board and administration, through dubious claims of near insolvency and ensuing chaos, rammed through a very costly referendum. Trusting voters now learn revenue projections were artificially low and enrollment will be substantially less, meaning that as suspected, the need was exaggerated to create urgency.

In U46 (Elgin), it would be difficult to find a more egregious breach of public trust than committed by incumbent board members. While most U46 employees were given minimal raises, classroom sizes increased, aides eliminated and programs slashed, huge and unreasonable raises, pay and benefits were lavished on its superintendent and administrative staff. Nowhere can a more deceitful, insulting and avaricious contempt of the public’s trust be found.

So, how many incumbents in District 300 do you think the Elgin paper will endorse for re-election?

Labels: District 300, Elgin School District, U46

Looks like the compensation estimate of Elgin School Board member Dan Rich resigned after he voted to raise School Superintendent Connie Neale was low.

It’s not $400,000.

It’s $420,000.

That’s what Daily Herald reporter Emily Krone has discovered.

And, if the school board backs down, Superintendent Neale will be making “only” $360,000.

How sad.

And what was Neale’s source for claiming she was only the 40th highest paid superintendent in Illinois?

It was Jack Roeser’s Family Taxpayers Network data base at TheChampion.Org, where you can find out what any teacher in Illinois is paid.

Or should I say, it reports the income reported to the Downstate Teachers Retirement Fund, that is, it is the income upon which folks in that system base pensions.

Here is the site which school folks hate being used to justify a whopping pay increase in Elgin.

That’s irony for you.

It probably also explains why the web site gets to many internet hits.

Labels: Connie Neale, Elgin School District, Family Taxpayers Network, U46

The $400,000 woman in Elgin—Connie Neale--has come up with the quote of the day:

"…in reality we want for all of our employees to have fair market value."

That’s how Elgin’s Courier News reporter Erin Calandriello ends the story about the school board meeting where parents stormed the Elgin School District 46 “castle,” er, school board meeting.

Labels: Connie Neale, Elgin School District, U46

I can hardly believe the lead story in Elgin’s Courier News today.

Elgin’s District 46 school superintendent, someone named Connie Neale, told the school board she wanted a hefty raise, plus a “10-20% tax-free bonus on top of her current $242,000 salary,” according to school board member Daniel Rich.

Reporter Erin Calandriello wrote of the board members being told that Neale had networked across the state and nation and thought she could easily be hired elsewhere for more.

Quoting Rich, reporter Calandriello wrote,

This means Neal will be making “around $400,000 next year.”

Rich pointed to her compensation package, which includes a car, disability insurance, health insurance, a cell phone and teachers retirement fund contributions, among other benefits.

Rich said the board was bargaining “with a gun to our heads.”

She must be really something else.

School board member Rich resigned as a result.

Of course, Neale didn’t have to resign. He could have just given the interview of what happened behind closed doors and watched what happened at the public meeting when Neale’s contract will presumably be approved by the remaining cowed school board members.

Besides her ability to get another job, Neale pointed to 40 grade schools having made their goals under the No Child Left Behind Act and the school’s stronger financial situation.

The story did not mention that the better financial condition was the result of selling non-referendum working cash bonds.

Labels: Connie Neale, Elgin School District, U46