Editorial: Collier County Public Schools SEE DATA>>

Board didn't do the math on Baker's 'double' raises - Saturday, August 5, 2006

The Collier County School Board, by a 3-2 vote, has awarded a 6 percent pay raise to the superintendent. No, the two dissenters did not think the 6 percent was too much. They thought it was not enough.

They wanted to give the superintendent, Ray Baker, an 11 percent raise.

Board members Dick Bruce and Kathleen Curatolo wanted to give Baker the 6 percent plus an extra 5 percent, as if that opportunity in his contract were an entitlement. Curatolo, who lectures colleagues on the need for civility in board discussions, even advised Linda Abbott — who along with Steve Donovan and Pat Carroll believed that Baker should get no more than his teachers got — that she should have read Baker's contract more thoroughly when it was approved last year.

Actually, it is Abbott who does her homework, as evidenced by her thoughtfulness in putting together a written critique of Baker's performance over the past year. Abbott saw room for improvement. Among other things, Abbot said Baker could be a better listener, citing the high schools' ill-fated venture into block scheduling last fall.

Given that and other incidents, such as the overage student-athletes at Immokalee High School and the abdication of impact fees stewardship to the Collier County Commission, there are grounds for debate whether the 6 percent, let alone the 11 percent, for Baker was fully warranted.

Yet, here's the kicker: Baker's 6 percent raise brought his pay increase for the coming year to 16 percent. The raise approved by the board Thursday, to $197,753, is retroactive to July 1, when a 9.4 percent pay boost — part of his new, three-year contract — went into effect. If he had won the extra 5 percent, his total raise effective July 1 would have been more than 21 percent.

We wonder how many board members were aware of the big picture on Thursday when they were discussing Baker's raise. Awarding simultaneous raises, of any size, sets a dubious precedent.

© 2006 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.