By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Members of the Education Establishment need to get their story straight: Is America’s public education system in the midst of a financial meltdown or not?

If there is a K-12 financial crisis – as everyone from President Obama on down to the local teacher union president claims – then somebody needs to explain to taxpayers why so many school superintendents are living large when school districts across the nation are laying off teachers, cutting student programs and asking for increased school taxes.

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The problem appears to exist across the nation.

The Omaha (Nebraska) school district recently made national news when it was discovered that the former superintendent received a $1 million “golden parachute” upon retirement, according to Omaha.com.

Now, a GoLocalProv report finds that Rhode Island’s school superintendents “are the highest paid local officials in (the state), earning tens of thousands more than top municipal officials.”

The average school chief earns a salary of $135,535, considerably more than the average Rhode Island mayor ($98,135), police chief ($89,619) or public works director ($80,337), the news site reports.

Another story out of Georgia also adds to concerns about overpaid superintendents.

Atlanta’s WXIA-TV reports that Dekalb County Schools Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson was recently given a 2013 Ford Explorer for both business and personal use. The news channel also discovered that a fulltime district employee occasionally doubles as Atkinson’s personal driver.

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As one may imagine, the “car and driver” story has caused quite a buzz in the Dekalb community, which has seen more than 100 school employees laid off in response to the district’s $24 million budget deficit, according to WXIA-TV.

Dekalb school board member Paul Womack said the controversy is “much ado about nothing,” adding that the new set of wheels only cost taxpayers about $9,000 after the district traded in three other vehicles.

If these were the go-go ‘90s, most Dekalb taxpayers would probably agree with Womack that providing the superintendent with a new Explorer is no big deal.

In fact, most of these stories about super-compensated superintendents would probably be shrugged off as simply the cost of doing business. After all, the familiar argument goes, if community members want good schools, they have to hire top leaders who must be paid top dollar.

But these aren’t the go-go ‘90s – they’re the bad-bad ‘10s – and school districts can’t afford these kinds of cushy deals.

Many of America’s school leaders are rightly asking their employee unions to make some wage and benefit concessions to help their districts survive this ugly economy. We support those school leaders who are requesting “givebacks,” but that street runs both ways.

If our public schools are truly facing serious financial hardships, then everyone from the school superintendent on down to the part-time custodian needs to make some financial sacrifices.

In times of crisis, it’s crucial that schools get back to the basics. And the basic function of our public education remains to provide children with a good education, not to provide adults with plum jobs.