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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > February > 12 > Entry
What’s a state ed board member’s job?
Susan Haverkos
I was talking with Susan Haverkos yesterday about the debate over the future of the Ohio Board of Education and her comments in Sunday’s paper on the matter.
Haverkos wanted to make a couple things she said clearer. First, she said she disagrees with Gov. Ted Strickland on many issues, including his plan to change the role of Ohio Board of Education. She is in no way allied with the governor. Second, she said she takes her duties on the state board very seriously.
In the story I wrote for Sunday’s paper, she said she felt the state board of education posts should be full-time, paid positions so state board members could be more effective. And she responded to a comment here at GOTB that asked if her statements in the paper suggested she was not attending to all the state board business that her post requires.
Her answer to that critic gives you a good sense of what state board of education members do. Here’s what she said:
“Concerning my comments about attendance at hearings (meetings). Some background. The Board of Education sends legislative recommendations to the legislators. Some of those recommendations are then introduced in bills.
We (Ohio Department of Education) send our legislative department personnel to cover testimony, answer questions and speak on behalf of the board. My comments were simply that I personally would like to attend and hear first-hand discussions about bills — a bill that may become a law — that would eventually require our board to write rules and policy.
I have testified before the House on several issues. I cannot speak for the board, but I can express my personal opinion. I am not paid for my travel time or any time I am in Columbus to advocate for education issues. I think it is important for the legislature to see board members in these hearings. I think it is important to have two-way communications with the lawmakers.
I get paid for approximately 16-30 hours per month for attending board meetings (or subcommittee meetings). Each month we receive “board books,” consisting of 5 volumes, 600 to 700 pages. We receive them approximately 1 week before our board meeting, it takes on average 15+ hours to read, make notes, research the issues we will be discussing and vote on (there hours are not paid) . I spend and additional 10 to 20 hours a week on state business (answering questions, reading department mail) that also is not paid.
When you testify or listen to testimony in hearings it consumes most of the day — four hours travel and two to four hours of hearings. All of this takes place during the day, when most people have to work. Most people who attend hearings are paid lobbyists. The “public” is usually not represented.
Not many people can ask for 5 to 10 days off work per month without pay. My previous comments were not complaints, just a wish. If I could somehow squeeze more time, more days into each month I could be more effective. Unfortunately I don’t have a maid, a chef, a gardener or a personal secretary. I have a real life. I never thought there would be someone out there who would turn what I said into an attack. Get real.
We can’t wait for someone else to fix the problems. We need to be actively engaged in becoming part of the solution, not just complaining that “they” haven’t done enough yet. If readers have concerns about education in Ohio I would like to hear them, what works, what doesn’t and how we can make it better. My email is susan.haverkos@ode.state.oh.us.
One more thing. I didn’t have tons of donations to run my campaign — no support from the unions or political parties. I had just a few friends and a lot of hard work, like attending a pig roast in Darke County or passing out homemade cards at township festivals. Grassroots work, no gimmicks. Sorry that offends some of your readers.”
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: Schools and Politics
Comments
By School WatchDog
February 15, 2008 11:27 PM | Link to this
I looked for myself: Gunlock-$16,369.43 Uphoff-$10,200.00 interesting about Uphoff, $2500-OEA, $5000-OFT, $2500-AFSCME, which means he only kicked in $200 of his own, and last Haverkos, $4141.00, $1700 of her own and the rest for all small donations.By Rich
February 15, 2008 3:00 PM | Link to this
I’ve let a number of days pass before actually reading and reacting to this lengthy response to my earlier comments and criticisms. Thanks to both Scott and Mrs. Haverkos for seriously addressing these issues. Please understand, almost all local board members, if they have any sense at all, knew long before being elected that their MANY hours of time devoted to this job were essentially donated (i.e., uncompensated). We earn anywhere from $80 to $125 a month gross, plus mileage, if pay is accepted at all. (Several board members I know decline to accept even this nominal pay.) But I do recognize that many, many hours of personal time are required to be an effective school board member. This includes, but CANNOT be limited to, simply reading prepared material. Other meetings are ALWAYS part of this job, and always will be. On the state level, this is probably more important than it is for local districts. As essentially a self-employed person (part of a family business), I assume Mrs. Haverkos’ time is more “her own” than someone working in other 9-to-5 jobs. It would seem to me her freedom to attend to board business is therefore greater than mine was. I am still greatly interested in knowing EXACTLY what the final dollar figure on Mrs. Haverkos’ campaign finance form was. She conveniently didn’t say, simply fuzzing the issue by discussing how she raised funds and campaigned. What was the actual figure? It’s a public record, after all — why not reveal it here?By Mary
February 14, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this
“School supporter (classic)”, you have greater faith in the local systems than many of us do. We want/need other options and choices without having to bow down to local power cliques and bureaucrats.By School Supporter (Classic)
February 14, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
Ms. Haverkos is right about State Board of Ed being a full time job. A priority for the state board ought to be empowering both parents/citizens and local boards; See “Improving Public Education Through Strenthened Local Control,” andrew.cmu.edu/user/rs9f/severinostraussfinalapril2005.pdfBy Oldprof
February 14, 2008 8:13 AM | Link to this
Note that today’s DDN article about the department of education counts 667 employees of the department. Since all of Ohio’s schools are administered by local school boards, what do THOSE 667 people do, exactly—other then generate a 600 page book for the OBE every month? I’m sure a few of them are useful, but hundreds? I’m reminded that those foreign nations that score ahead of the USA on standardized tests do not have local control—their schools are administered by a centralized, national department that’s headed by experts, not locally elected officials. Trim away some of the layers of management and we’ll have plenty of money left over to improve conditions for the students and teachers.By School Supporter (Classic)
February 14, 2008 8:02 AM | Link to this
Dear “School Supporter,” I’ve defended both Ms. Haverkos and Dr. Zelman repeatedly on this blog against OldProf’s attacks. But I’ve done so without taking cheap shots. Could you explain how hijacking a screen name, using tone unbecoming an Ohio high school graduate, and not having your facts straight create credibility for your position? I don’t see how you can intelligently argue for the competence of ODE while repudiating the state’s Academic Content Standards through your actions.By Oldprof
February 13, 2008 8:02 PM | Link to this
Ah School Supporter! You are so ignorant of my working conditions that it frightens me. My health insurance and retirement have been primarily supported by deductions from my pay. I earn less than I would have had I built a career in the private sector—and in my entire career, so far I’ve taken summer off exactly twice (and I’m able to count my years to retirement on one hand)—and no, the extra pay from summer teaching did not improve my net salary to the level that, say, a clerk of courts gets. And yes, I do support Strickland’s plan—in large part because what we’ve got now is inefficient, amateurish, and costly. And you can applaud the freebie work that Haverkos is doing, but from where I stand, work deserves pay—tell me, are you going to start doing YOUR job gratis for the good of society? Who’s the socialist now?By Mary
February 13, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this
Good point, School supporter. It is amazing how the public interest gets sabotaged to establish and protect fat cat government jobs and status quo. USA Today has had quite a few articles comparing the public and private employee sectors. Increasingly, it appears government workers are feeding off a gravy train that the private workers struggle to support. (And I am also a retired military/government employee.) The imbalance is a risk to our country’s future.By mil_mom
February 13, 2008 8:26 AM | Link to this
Oldprof, I personally like a parent, like me, representing me on the board. I don’t want educators making all the decisions. After all, what I have found is that educators don’t necessarily understand all aspects of education. I am specifically talking about gifted students. I have read several books, advocated for my child, and have discovered that very few educators understand these unique children. So…..if you are going to have a full-time committee of “experts”, please include at least one who understands gifted students and their needs.By School Supporter
February 13, 2008 12:47 AM | Link to this
It’s great when Ed’u’crats like OldProf have to justify their existence by refering to anyone that doesn’t think like them as “non-experts” Isn’t it funny how his only solution is to hire more Ed’u’crats that are paid the “proper salary”. What he really means is 24% retirement benefits, only working 2/3 yr, all paid holidays, all dental, health, life insurance. You know everything paid at taxpayer expense, just like he gets now. I applaud the freebe work Mrs. Haverkos is doing on behalf of Montgomery County. What OldProfs’ comments really boil down to supports Stricklands’ plan to have lobbyist, vendors and education unions take over education so they can bankrupt the State and cheat our children. Did you know you don’t need a degree or license to teach at Ohio Colleges?, just a business card, briefcase and blogging ID.By Oldprof
February 12, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
So let’s do the math (at least, those of us who passed those classes)…We’ve got 20 OBE members who get paid $30/hour to attend 16-30 hours of meetings monthly. That’s an average of 23 hours X $30 X 20 members X 12 months = $165,600.00 per year. Not to mention ancillary expenses like making and delivering 20 copies of a book every month (has our board not heard of cd-r disks or web repositories?). So by Haverkos’ own admission, we’re paying probably well over $200,000 annually in order to maintain an overly large committee of non-experts who don’t feel they are able to participate as fully as they should? Sounds like an outstanding argument for disbanding the OBE in favor of a full-time committee of educators who would be given proper salaries and a wider range of responsibilities. That, incidentally, is how the OBOR functions—and the quality of higher education in Ohio has not been seriously questioned (affordability, portability, access, and applicability have been questioned, rightly so).By Mary
February 12, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this
Over the past seven or eight years, my son and I have been to Columbus to testify along with other students, parents, and educators on various issues including gifted, PSEO, vouchers, etc. When we were there, it was not obvious who the paid lobbyists were,who was pushing the legislation, and who had contributed to whose campaign. It is still a mystery to me why we unpaid citizens had to always be in a defensive mode to protect what we thought were the best interests of the public, the students and education when it came to choices. Our position was to be there to counterbalance other “invisible” powerful groups out for their own self interest. More citizens need to show up in Columbus or contact their representative on education issues. Unless you are a part of an advocacy group, it is usually not achievable or likely you know about legislation being considered. Perhaps this is a function the State Board of Education could help with - help tie the news into the local media more and help the public make their concerns known on various issues to their state senator or representative or board member. I do not think a lot of the elected representatives understand the education issues and repercussions as well as the public.By David Esrati
February 12, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this
Compare the amount of time and pay Ms. Haverkos gets with the amount that Chester Finn gets for his work on promoting for profit charter schools- and you start to understand why Charter schools happened. The system is broken. She is not the problem. The Ohio Supreme Court found the funding formula for public schools to be unconstitutional years ago- and nothing has changed. Fund raising shouldn’t be at issue. Issues should be at issue. It’s why I believe we pay far more for having candidates who have to raise money- than paying directly for campaigns out of a tax supported fund.