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Here's the "copy" for the story: District gives thousands in pay raises
Gov. says that money should be spent on kids
Updated: Thursday, 06 Oct 2011, 11:31 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 06 Oct 2011, 11:31 PM MDT
Reporter: Katie Kim
ESPANOLA, N.M. (KRQE) - Top administrators from the Espanola School District are getting tens of thousands of dollars in pay raises, according to district superintendent Evelyn Maruska.
District records show a group of administrators working in the central offices will see an increase in their take-home pay totaling about $375,000. Maruska said she has recently cut several high-paying administration jobs, so many employees are now pulling double duty and getting rewarded as a result.
"Some of the individuals that did get increases in pay are now responsible for multi-responsibilities," said Maruska.
Maruska got the biggest pay raise of all at $31,000, bringing her salary to up to $120,000. But Maruska said that is the same amount her predecessor made.
Maruska said even with the pay increases, she has saved the district more than $300,000.
But teachers and the governor said the money should be spent on kids in the classroom, especially in Espanola where the district is considered failing by state standards. The district has a 54 percent graduation rate, well below the state average of 67 percent. Also, more than half of the students are not proficient in reading and math, according to the state Public Education Department.
"To give supervisors and people in the bureaucracy large salary increases when that money needs to go into intervention programs, obviously we're not putting out kids first," said Martinez. "We're all doing more with less, but our kids cannot suffer the consequences just so we can have administrators have higher salaries."
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