Welcome to Tuesday, my day on the iDiva calendar. I’ve got a few things on my mind today, so hang with me. I’ll be coming to your screen more than once today.
First up: Let’s talk priorities. And then let’s talk about putting your money where your mouth is.
Carol Johnson, outgoing Memphis City Schools superintendent, gets roughly $210,000 a year to supervise the teaching of our precious Memphis children. Outgoing Grizzlies team president Jerry West, on the other hand, receives upwards of $5 million to supervise the teaching of an adult basketball team.
If we claim that our children are our future and education is so important, blah, blah, blah, then why don’t we pay people more to take on this crucial task? Is the discrepancy based on gender — most teaching positions are filled by females — or is it all about bringing in the almighty advertising dollar?
I could make the argument that our children will mean a whole lot more economically to Memphis than any basketball team will. But what do you think? Teachers, let’s hear you.
Diva, let ‘er rip.
Responses to “Tuesday Diva: Hang with me, ladies”
June 19th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Well, yeah, of course you’re right about the wildly inflated salaries in pro sports, and the reasons, but to me, a better argument — or maybe discussion — to have isn’t about money. (If Carol Johnson really wanted major bucks, she could have gone to work for the Harvard think tank on whose board she sits, and done consulting.) My question is mentioned in every story about Johnson’s departure — that she wasn’t able to do anything about the awful perception of the city schools, despite her actual successes with NCLB, etc. Is the job of “fixing” or even just running MCS too much for one person? One thing about the CA coverage of this story struck me — that the Boston system is SMALLER than Memphis. I’ve always thought MCS was too large to manage effectively, with too many different needs among the thousands of students, parents, teachers and staff. How about it, teachers? If you were hiring the next super, what would you change beforehand?
June 19th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I’ve long thought that teachers deserve much more pay than they get. Their day doesn’t end when the school bell rings, and they often have to spend art of their paltry salaries for school supplies for their students.
I’ve concluded that we really don’t mean it when we say that education is all-important - otherwise we’d be willing, nay eager, to suck up tax increases to attract more talented teachers and keep the ones we have.
And I have no qualms about paying a superintendent more - and realizing that in eight hours a day, 180 days a year, a school system can only be expected to do so much.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
While it doesn’t look good that Mr. West gets paid more than Ms. Johnson, you have to look at who is paying. Mr. West is paid by the owner of the Grizzlies. Ms. Johnson is paid by the City of Memphis, via the City School Board (I think). You can’t really compare the two. If the Grizzlies were owned and operated by the City of Memphis, and funded by some portion of the property tax as the City Schools are, then Mr. West and the rest of the staff and players would be making a lot less. Mr. West also makes more than the President of the United States, as do most athletes and a lot of other business executives. That doesn’t mean that we value sports more than the running of the country, it’s just how it is.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:41 am
I understand the point people make about comparing NBA salaries with teacher and superintendents but it really isn’t a fair comparision. Professional atheletes earn their salary becasue fans pay tons of money not only to go to games (have you been to a Grizzlies game???It costs a FORTUNE!) but for merchandise, etc.
And lets face it. $210,000 is ALOT of money. Paying someone more money isn’t going to fix the school system.
June 19th, 2007 at 11:10 am
The NBA league minimum salary is over twice what Carl Johnson was getting. The worst player in the NBA could earn more than a school superintendent.