This Daily News database of all LAUSD salaries is accurate.

If you’re wondering how I feel that anyone can search and find out to the cent how much money I make, I can’t say I’m angry or upset. Frankly, teacher salaries have never been much of a secret. The real value here is peeking into what’s happening with all those many, many employees out of the classroom in the behemoth of a tower on Beaudry.

The articles connected to the database are worth a look (hey, guess someone’s stock might be rising in light of the constant LAT job massacre). In particular, I’d like to draw your attention to the article titled: “LAUSD administration swells 20 percent from 2001 to 2007.” It should be noted that this good ol’ swelling took place just about a year after Ray Cortines handed over the keys as interim Sup. to Roy Romer. Cortines came in, cleaned up shop, urged Romer to reduce the Central District, and pretty much watched Romer do the exact opposite. I know I’ve linked to the interview Travis and I did about a million times at this point, but look at these choice quotes from Cortines when we talked to him last year:

I came to the district in a very difficult time; the board was firing Dr. Zacharias and not handling it well. The Board asked me to stay on and I said I would stay on until June. We agreed that I would reorganize the district, cut the central office, move to decentralization, balance the budget, and create stability. We did that. And we did that in about nine months in the year 2000.

And

I envisioned a collegial kind of relationship in the decentralization of the district. Not that you don’t need a central office – you do. But you certainly don’t need Beaudry. Roy [Romer], instead of getting rid of anybody every time they weren’t doing their job, he just moved them down or up a floor. I don’t do that.

And he certainly doesn’t “do that.” If the article is to be believed, Cortines will be making significant cuts in the coming months. Praise be. Talk to just about any teacher and they’ll scoff at the kinds of “insight” and “aid” and “assistance” that most out of the classroom employees are able to offer. Beaudry is a sinkhole of financial waste in the eyes of most of us here on the front line. Fortunately, I still feel like I have a peer in Cortines: “This is not a good central office,” concedes Senior Deputy Superintendent Ramon Cortines. “It’s not inviting to parents and the community. Parking is atrocious; getting here is atrocious.” That’s from another choice Daily News Article.

Economics 101!

And while we’re on the topic of this database, where are my Econ teachers at? I’ve been thrilled thinking about the kinds of amazing lessons and service learning activities that this database offers. I’d think students would be able to offer great analysis comparing their teachers’ salaries compared to the services rendered to said students. I suspect their would be a disparity between the teachers they respect and the salaries they earn. After all, the teachers I see putting the most time into their students’ well-being don’t have the time that other teachers do to get additional salary points, teach intersession, or eek out that oh-so-valuable z-time that others are so skilled in getting. Hmmm … smaller paycheck might equal more committed teacher? Blasphemous talk if I’ve ever heard it. Someone call Steven D. Levitt!