I can’t believe that Dr. Steven Walts is the highest paid county employee.
When compared with public employees in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, Walts’ 2011-12 annual salary of $260,563 is second only to longtime Fairfax Superintendent Jack Dale’s $302,998 a year. Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III earns $239,660 a year.
This guy makes more than all federal officials with the exception of the President of the United States.
President $400,000
Vice President $227,300
Speaker of the House $223,500
House Majority & Minority Leaders $193,400
House / Senate Members & Delegates $174,000
Chief Justice, Supreme Court $217,400
Associate Justices, Supreme Court $208,100
It is unbelievable that this guy’s contract was renewed after his past work in NY came to light and the debacle that was Math Investigations. Then there is the fact that the computer system they have that teachers use to logon at home to do report cards and such is a clunker by CISCO that is incompatible with Apple products and frequently has problems with Windows-based computers (rumor is half the teachers trying to get on the system last weekend to do report cards couldn’t access the system.) I have even heard from some teachers that there is a problem with the county school’s web site security certificate that makes Internet Explorer reject access to it and the only way they can get on is by completely disabling all security measures on the computers.
Paying Walts this kind of money is evidence that incompetence is still being rewarded.
UPDATE: Meanwhile, teachers are getting the shaft again…
>>> Steve Walts 2/2/2012 6:58 AM >>>
Dear Colleagues:
Last night, I presented the School Board with my proposed budget for the 2012-13 school year. It is a blueprint for overcoming a daunting array of challenges such as spiraling enrollment that fuels ever-rising expenses, while economic conditions cut deeper into funding and drive costs upward. Despite these obstacles, my proposed budget is designed as it should be to ensure student success.
I am pleased to report that the proposed budget includes:
No significant programmatic reductions, reflecting our focus on student learning;
No plans for any Reduction in Force (RIF) that would eliminate jobs at this point in time;
No increases in employee health insurance rates or changes to coverage;
Absorbing a major boost in Virginia Retirement System (VRS) costs;
Covering the estimated $28.1 million recurring expense of adding another 2,767 students to our enrollmentnow projected at 83,837 for the 201213 school year;
Coping with the rising cost of fuel.Given our economic challenges, a budget with no major program cuts and no planned RIF is a significant accomplishment. But it does not come without sacrifice. I am acutely aware and proud of the of excellent staff work that makes possible the growing success of PWCS. However, I am unable, at this time, to reward that work with enhanced compensation. The proposed budget contains no funding for 2012-13 salary increases. (emphasis added)
My proposal reflects harsh realities such as the unexpectedly large $31 million increase in our required contribution to VRS. Another major challenge is the proposed elimination from the Governors spending plan of Cost of Competing funds that help area school divisions attract and retain employees in a competitive regional market. That loss would cost PWCS $10.8 million. It is not yet reflected in my proposal, as we are hopeful that new burden will be lifted during the current legislative session. If it remains, however, it could well trigger undesirable cuts. Conversely, should additional revenues above and beyond a Cost of Competing restoration become available during this budget process, I will recommend their inclusion in the budget to fund employee salary increases.
From rising on-time graduation rates to enhanced SOL performance and noteworthy student accomplishments across the Division, our successes rise on the foundation of the hard work and dedication that each of you deliver every day. This budget lets us keep building on that foundation to create outstanding results, even in difficult and changing times. You can find further details online athttp://budgetupdate.pwcs.edu. I hope you will familiarize yourselves with the proposal and follow its progress through the upcoming public meeting, the School Boards review, and the final approval by the Board of County Supervisors.
Together with our community, we will continue to fulfill our promise of Providing A World-Class Education. Thank you for your hard work and support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Steven L. Walts
Superintendent of Schools
Filed under: Virginia Politics
I especially appreciated the questionairre Walts sent to homes last month that asked whether we as parents feel that the schools appreciate diversity enough. At the same time the proposed Gifted and Talented Program was revealed to have racial/ethnic participation quotas.
As a taxpayer, I think I deserve a partial refund of Walt’s salary. We are not getting our money’s worth.
260k is a fair salary for the County Superintendent, I mean how many schools, employees and students is he in charge of? Also it’s not fair to compare him to the other elected officials you listed. With the exception of the Supreme Court justices, they all make the bulk of their money after they leave office anyway. There are plenty of federal government contracted project mangers living in NoVA making just as much for more doing a lot less. Not to mention all the lawyers on K st. that are making way more then 260k. i have no problem with my tax money being used to pay him that. Now the teachers that only work 9 months out of the year are a different story.
I’m guessing that you don’t know many teachers. The teachers that I know do NOT work 9 months out of the year. They work during the summer teaching summer school, tutoring students, reviewing textbooks for adoption, taking classes for recertification, attending workshop and trainings, and mentoring new teachers. It is irresponsible for Dr. Walts to make the salary that he makes while the teachers of PWC have not had step increases in at least 2 years and are not expected to have any increase until 2016,
After the debacle that was Math Investigations in PWC, the brilliant educrats in Loudoun county adopted the same, awful, dumb down math program. After complaining that they had NO money, LCPS managed to find enough money to adopt this new math program, with new textbooks for all students K-8, and money for training all the teachers to teach this terrible, new-new-new math, a program that parents across the country have objected to. The good news is math tutors are more in demand than ever by parents who want their children to learn math and be prepared for higher level math in high school.
You are so right Potomac……….Walts salary is within the bounds of the market, as is the County Executive’s……
Of course incompetence is being rewarded – these are the public schools after all! PWCS doesn’t just reward incompetence, it revels in it.
Look at PWCS’s SAT scores. For years the excuse has been to blame the nearly 200 point discrepancy between FFX and PWC or LDN and PWC on demographics. But if you look at the SAT scores for those three counties for each demographic group, lo an behold, the excuse doesn’t hold water. Oops.
PWCS recently decided that we will teach to the SOLs only and no higher after years of considering the SOLs the bare minimum our kids needed to know. Fairfax, Loudoun, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Stafford all teach above the SOLs. Oops.
The biggest admission of the abject failure of the inquiry-only approach to instruction that PWCS is following is the HUGE decline in the percentage of students achieving an advanced score on the SOL. Does the system fire the department head who brought us inquiry-only instruction? Nope. Instead the district decides that above grade level instruction will only be given to “gifted” kids who are the children the district expected to take 4 years of HS level math and go on to college. The non-gifted kids are apparently a waste of time…..
The non-gifted kids are apparently a waste of time. This mentality has been SOP in PWC schools since they introduced the gifted program in the 70′s.
Walts and his Greece, NY posse need to be sent packing.
When I: worked for the NYS Department of Audit and Control, we had a highly trained and professional group of municipal auditors and acccountants, and i am sure they had the same when they investigated Walts……believe me, if he had broke any laws or regulations he would have been dismissed or put in the slammer. I despise the setup here in PWC that now gives Supts the power of czars and litttle power to the teachers. If there is a scandal today it is how badly treated the teaachers are in our ‘right to work’ state….