"Eat some crow, swallow some pride, and begin taking the right steps"

February 7, 2007

Dear Editor,

On the subject of buying Winston Braham's silence for $ 190,000, the school district is also paying the interim chief financial officer $125,000 for a five-month part-time job, another $18,000 to FMAC to "show me the money" for the tentative agreement with the teachers, and will likely pay $150,000 per year to the permanent replacement starting in July. (see story)

Add this up and the school district is paying about $322,000 per year from January 07 through June 08 for its financial officer position. I am sure Mr. Braham would have a comment on that kind of stewardship provided by the school board and new superintendent. Can anyone spell "malfeasance"?

Additionally, the school board and news outlets continue to describe the teachers agreement as a 5 percent raise. Yet there are two salary schedule compressions which when all added up averages 9 percent per teacher over two years. The compressions only benefit teachers who have been in the district between 20 and 25 years.

How does that help new teachers who struggle the most to work in a housing market beyond their means? SMMUSD teachers are outstanding and deserve the most the district can afford, but the current tentative agreement is a financial hazard and is not fairly distributed. I am sure Mr. Braham had opinions and advice on that which were not well received.

Lastly, the district said it would not fill the position of Chief Academic Officer when it filled the Deputy Superintendent position. At the last board meeting in Malibu an individual (read friend of new superintendent) was appointed to that position for probably close to $150,000 per year.

There were no job bulletins, no interviews, no discussion, no budget oversite; simply a board action and so it was done. Perhaps Mr. Braham would have had a comment on the cost of this appointment and the process by which is was done.

Yes, Mr. Braham should speak, but more importantly, the school board should begin to listen and recognize they have made extremely poor decisions since Superintendent Deasy announced his departure. When all is said and done it will be clear that the failure to appoint Dr. Matthews superintendant was a huge mistake and the hiring of Dianne Talarico an even bigger mistake.

Take a deep breath SMMUSD, eat some crow, swallow some pride, and begin taking the right steps.

Respectfully,

Hal Cassidy
Malibu Resident