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Published: February 24, 2008 5:32 a.m.

Editorial

Public employees, public information

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Teacher salaries
Average annual teacher salaries and the average age of a district’s teachers vary in Allen County and northeast Indiana.

East Allen County Schools: $51,400; 43 years old

Fort Wayne Community Schools: $47,800; 44 years

Southwest Allen County Schools: $52,100; 43 years

Northwest Allen County Schools: $47,700; 40 years

Imagine MASTer Academy charter school: $34,500; 33 years

Timothy L. Johnson Academy charter school: $32,600; 30 years.

Adams Central Community Schools: $45,600; 45 years

DeKalb County Central Schools: $51,600; 41 years

Whitley County Schools: $46,400; 41 years

Huntington County Schools: $47,200; 43 years

Source: Indiana Department of Education

While debate over the cost of schools and local government goes on in Indianapolis, an Allen County charter school continues to argue that it has no obligation to disclose how much its taxpayer-supported employees are paid. Officials at the Timothy L. Johnson Academy are wrong to use corporate cover in obscuring public information.

Johnson Academy officials were once again the only public school representatives in Allen County to refuse to release salary information for administrators and teachers. In response to The Journal Gazette’s written request, an official with the Michigan-based management company that oversees the charter school stated that the academy staff is employed by the Leona Group.

That is disingenuous, at best. The school’s $1.6 million budget is primarily supported by state dollars – the same per-pupil tuition support that traditional public schools receive. With those public dollars comes a requirement to disclose financial information.

Steve Key, attorney for the Hoosier State Press Association, said that the Indiana law authorizing charter schools specifies that records relating to a charter school’s operation are subject to inspection and copying to the same extent as the records of a public school.

“I recall working on this language with Sen. Teresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis,” Key said in an e-mail. “Since the compensation information for public school teachers is available to the public, I would argue that the same would apply to charter school employees.”

While Timothy L. Johnson officials won’t disclose the information locally, they have submitted it to the state. According to the Indiana Department of Education, the charter school leader and superintendent, Steve Bollier, earns $26,350 a year on a 260-day contract. A DOE employee said the records didn’t show any supplemental pay, but Bollier may earn additional salary from Leona Group funds and not from the state. Assistant school leader Anita Dortch earns $37,440 for a 195-day contract, and assistant school leader Andre Fox earns $60,000 annually for a full-year contract.

The most experienced teacher at the charter school, with 10 years of experience, earns $36,500. A first-year teacher earns $28,788.

Discussions about fair compensation must be grounded in fact, not emotional appeals. Taxpayers should know how much of a school’s operating funds are going to teacher salaries and benefits – the primary cost of instruction.

Charter school supporters argue that pay should be tied to performance. If a school is using compensation as a tool to raise achievement, its officials should have no qualms about sharing that information with the public.