I think this is a thoughtful analysis. But I think at the end of the day we also need to ask whether the appropriate way to provide compensation for a part-time endeavor is by providing health care benefits that traditionally are reserved for full-time employment? And whether that really hides the compensation? Also, it Is not insignificant that If the elected trustees get the same benefits as the employees, they are tremendously Incentivized to Increase the size and scope of employee benefits. By the way, I have had several elected officials tells me that they are tired of serving but the benefits are "just to good to give up" -- so there's that.
Jon, those are valid concerns. I wonder how widespread it is for electeds to stay on for the health benefits. However, I don't think that issue is confined only to elected officials. Anecdotally, I have heard from people in the public and private sectors who hang in jobs longer than planned for the health benefits. Wonder what the data is on that?
Jon, I absolutely agree. As one of these listed (you can find me as #89 here on the 3rd page of this list), the fact that I have health insurance through my husband’s employer makes this, as Phil mentioned, truly like volunteer work…
My ~ $6k goes nearly entirely to childcare costs to be able to attend meetings/events/etc. I seemingly lose money by serving… Others who get the health benefits for their families (it is actually an incentive that is factored into the decision for many electeds) makes it such a discrepancy…For members of the same board, same position, we have vastly different financial benefits from holding the same post.
Also the variance on base-rate (not including health) by district is interesting… I’d love to see an analysis of that first column next to column with the size of district/budget…
Also would be interesting, Phil, if your article included the average of wages and also average of benefits, in the text, as showing just the first (of 3) pages really shows an over-inflation (for those who won’t click on the link you put to see the full listing…) Thank you for including the full link.
Leah, I updated the post to include all three pages of school board member compensation in the body of the article. As someone who has been serving as a Newport-Mesa school board member, what is your perspective on appropriate compensation?
Yeah, as I noted above, I am not married to the idea that healthcare should be offered. I’d rather see the *actual* compensation be increased so that it is more equally beneficial for all who serve- per my point, 2 of us trustees are at # 88, and #89 on the list and the other 5 are up on that first page… we all technically do about the same (10-20hours/week)… Yet our total compensation varies tenfold. That’s wild to me.
When I did the math on ~15 hours/week, $7k/year it’s what $9/hr… So, as you mentioned, I see it as volunteer work with a stipend that covers childcare costs while I’m at these meetings/functions. We oversee $400M budget, double the size of some city budgets…Looking at other public local offices like Mesa Water, Sanitation, etc, I’d be curious to see how their stipends compare to ours- given budget size of each agency/ time commitment.
So it’s a discussion that I welcome and would love to know more about how our stipends vary per district size, what is the state norm, are there any districts that don’t provide healthcare (or is that a state mandate? It actually may be now that I’m just thinking out loud)… I have more questions than answers but it’s a conversation that should be happening. Thanks for raising it!
I think this is a thoughtful analysis. But I think at the end of the day we also need to ask whether the appropriate way to provide compensation for a part-time endeavor is by providing health care benefits that traditionally are reserved for full-time employment? And whether that really hides the compensation? Also, it Is not insignificant that If the elected trustees get the same benefits as the employees, they are tremendously Incentivized to Increase the size and scope of employee benefits. By the way, I have had several elected officials tells me that they are tired of serving but the benefits are "just to good to give up" -- so there's that.
Jon, those are valid concerns. I wonder how widespread it is for electeds to stay on for the health benefits. However, I don't think that issue is confined only to elected officials. Anecdotally, I have heard from people in the public and private sectors who hang in jobs longer than planned for the health benefits. Wonder what the data is on that?
Jon, I absolutely agree. As one of these listed (you can find me as #89 here on the 3rd page of this list), the fact that I have health insurance through my husband’s employer makes this, as Phil mentioned, truly like volunteer work…
My ~ $6k goes nearly entirely to childcare costs to be able to attend meetings/events/etc. I seemingly lose money by serving… Others who get the health benefits for their families (it is actually an incentive that is factored into the decision for many electeds) makes it such a discrepancy…For members of the same board, same position, we have vastly different financial benefits from holding the same post.
Also the variance on base-rate (not including health) by district is interesting… I’d love to see an analysis of that first column next to column with the size of district/budget…
Also would be interesting, Phil, if your article included the average of wages and also average of benefits, in the text, as showing just the first (of 3) pages really shows an over-inflation (for those who won’t click on the link you put to see the full listing…) Thank you for including the full link.
Leah, I updated the post to include all three pages of school board member compensation in the body of the article. As someone who has been serving as a Newport-Mesa school board member, what is your perspective on appropriate compensation?
Yeah, as I noted above, I am not married to the idea that healthcare should be offered. I’d rather see the *actual* compensation be increased so that it is more equally beneficial for all who serve- per my point, 2 of us trustees are at # 88, and #89 on the list and the other 5 are up on that first page… we all technically do about the same (10-20hours/week)… Yet our total compensation varies tenfold. That’s wild to me.
When I did the math on ~15 hours/week, $7k/year it’s what $9/hr… So, as you mentioned, I see it as volunteer work with a stipend that covers childcare costs while I’m at these meetings/functions. We oversee $400M budget, double the size of some city budgets…Looking at other public local offices like Mesa Water, Sanitation, etc, I’d be curious to see how their stipends compare to ours- given budget size of each agency/ time commitment.
So it’s a discussion that I welcome and would love to know more about how our stipends vary per district size, what is the state norm, are there any districts that don’t provide healthcare (or is that a state mandate? It actually may be now that I’m just thinking out loud)… I have more questions than answers but it’s a conversation that should be happening. Thanks for raising it!