SOUNDING OFF:Parental advice for school administrators

I just read the letter written by Tony Zini, “A teacher’s note to school administrators,” (March 22) with great interest. As parent volunteers for the past five years at Eader Elementary, my wife and I have had a great deal of contact with the teachers. Much to our confusion, some of them have expressed the opinion that the recent salary increases by the Huntington Beach City School Administration may have been unwarranted or seemingly unethical. Shame on them!

The teachers apparently do not understand the immense pressure the Huntington Beach City School District’s administrators are under. After going online to do some research, I found there are seven elementary and two middle schools in the district. This compares to eight elementary schools and three middle schools in the Fountain Valley School District; 22 elementary and two middle schools in Newport-Mesa (I did not count the six high schools and two alternative education and one adult education schools); and Garden Grove with 47 elementary and 10 middle schools (once again I did not add in high schools, special ed, or adult education). If these are correct, then our school district administrators have the same pressure in spite of the fewer number of schools. They should be praised for their display of martyrdom and self-sacrifice.

While online, I attempted to access salary and budget information. I was able to access teacher salary information but not the management salary information. I was also unable to access the budget information. I can only assume that the management salary is so low that they don’t want to be embarrassed by the low salary they receive for the immense responsibilities they shoulder. I would go to the district offices for the information but I could not bear to see the shame and confusion on their faces.

Finally, I have some suggestions to increase the administrators’ salaries for next year.

1. Deduct the time that parents/high school aides volunteer from the teacher salaries.

2. Conduct classes outside on other than rainy days. This would save on lighting costs. Do away with a heating system — that’s what jackets are for.

3. Have the students clean the classrooms and empty trash for extra credit. This would allow them to completely eliminate custodial staff.

4. For heaven’s sake don’t have physical education! Is there really any definitive proof that a healthy body promotes learning?

5. Don’t buy any supplies for the teachers. If the students need supplies, have the parents provide them.

6. Don’t pay for any teacher training. If they can read and write, that should be enough.

If they implement any of our suggestions we would like to request a 20% increase in our salaries as volunteers.