Detroit Public Schools Boss Gives Himself Fat Raise, Cuts Secretaries' Pay

Budget cuts are a fact of life these days, even for those who are already underpaid and can't afford a salary cut. Fair-minded CEOs often make cuts starting from the top, slashing their own salary first (some CEOs, like Whole Foods' John Mackey, have all but eliminated their own salaries, taking home a dollar per year). It seems only fair that the people who can afford to see their salaries cut should go first, right?

Not in Detroit. Robert Bobb, the public school system's state-appointed emergency financial manager announced last week that he would stay on for a second year, earning him an $81,000 raise. The very same day, Bobb informed the school district's office workers that they must take a 10 percent pay cut and pay 10 percent more toward their health care premiums because of a $219 million budget deficit. The average secretarial salary in Detroit's public schools, pre-cut, is $25,000. That will decrease to $22,500, scraping the poverty line for a single parent and three children. Meanwhile, Bobb will earn $425,000 next year, up from $344,000. That puts him in the top one percent of all American workers. His willingness to send families into poverty while he lives in luxury is both astounding and appalling. Bobb replied to some petition signers to tell them the facts they had were wrong. But neither he nor a spokesman for Detroit Public Schools returned emails or calls asking for clarification. Don't let him off the hook -- sign the petition telling Bobb not to cut secretaries' salaries while raising his own.

Bobb's argument in favor of his raise is that the extra money is coming from private grants, not Detroit taxpayers, which is mostly true: his city-paid salary is increasing from $260,000 to $280,000 while his grants from foundations rise from $84,000 to $145,000. But if his primary focus is on improving the city's public schools -- by some measures, the worst in the country -- why is he busy applying for grants to boost his own salary? Alternatively, he could pay himself with the foundation money and return his city salary to the school system; surely $145,000 is enough to live on in a city in which you can buy a home for $7,500, no?

Photo credit: Bob Jagendorf