Ms. Foster, perhaps you do not work in private industry. But the days of a secretary for each manager/administrator were over by the early 1990s as I entered the workforce.
To have this many administrators each with his or her own secretary is the definition of wasteful. I have worked in private industry and in government. I can assure you that the head of the companies where I worked and the head of the government offices where I worked have always SHARED secretaries. There were no (count 'em...none) individuals who had a secretary as a single assignment.
With labor costs at District 65 at 80 percent, this is no trivial matter. It's time for District 65 to join the rest of private industry and government and cut its excessive administrative costs. This includes assistants.
The Superintendent can share a secretary with one other person. For every other administrator -- they should be three administrators to every one secretary.
I have personally seen what qualifies as "work" at the Hill Center as I have had meetings with administrators there. It's a joke. I can guarantee that once they cut staff at the Hill Center, those who still have jobs will suddenly become much more focused on the quality of their work and maybe parents' phone calls will actually get returned.
Or we can just keep doing what we are doing -- parents waiting in lines for hours on short notice just to register their kids for kindergarten, the D65 Administration cutting dozens of classroom teachers first, the Board being led by the nose into ridiculous and short-sighted decisions time and time again, Board members prattling on and on during Board meetings about taking a knife to programs when they know nothing about those programs and don't take the time to learn.
D65 needs a major shakeup. I can't wait until my children are out of that disaster masquerading as a multi-million dollar school district. (On the other hand, I am very impressed with my children's school and their teachers there. My children are getting a good education in spite of the D65 Administration.) As a life-long Democrat, I surprise myself when I say that, after dealing with the lunacy of the D65 Administration and Board for several years, I support vouchers for all children in Illinois. With vouchers, D65 should have to shape up or start holding its own bake sales to pay for Hardy Murphy's salary, retirement benefits, car, housing allowance, etc.
I seem to remember that Evanston once required "official" yard waste bags that had the collection fee included in the price of the bags. The bags even had a city logo on them and non-official bags would only be picked up if there was a sticker.
Does anyone else remember these and the dates of their inception and discontinuance?
And much of Evanston is affordable because of the crime. If crime were to decrease to, say, Highland Park levels, I believe it would no longer be affordable. But, it's the trade off we live with and the choice we have made.
I agree, relations should be better. But ridiculous demands from Fiske don't help move the relation in that direction. The unruly student behavior happens off campus for a reason: it is impossible on campus. It's not even possible to have a well attended academic talk because the NU police comes and kicks out anyone standing in the corridors when the room is at sitting capacity. In the building I work, there is a deck (and there are no undergraduates). It is locked so much of the time that is rarely used. Fiske also complained about too many pavers. I suppose the new construction by the lake at Church and Sheridan is not part of her ward: talk about cement and pavers overkill. And that is actually city property.
My point is simple: solve city problems -- there are plenty of them. Rowdy parties on a planned campus deck exist in her imagination and that of those who dislike NU.
And, by the way, I'm also a tax-paying Evanston townie.
Do you have experience working with D65? Do you have kids in D65? Have you ever tried to get an email or a phone call answered from anyone who works in administration in D65. Anyone has would tell you that there is plenty of dead weight that can be cut in the administrative staff at D65. I'm not going to name names or positions, but I can assure you that there are plenty of people there who illustrate the Peter Principal: "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence."
I'm wondering if you understand what and who it takes to operate a school district effectively and efficiently. I don't work for D65, but my career does involve working with school districts throughout this state and in other states. The positions on the list that you've copied from the District website do not appear to me to be exorbitant, or any different from the kinds of positions that most school districts with 6,000+ students need to run well. School districts no more just "educate children" any more than hospitals just "treat patients". There are many layers of operation that serve many important purposes in order to make sure good teaching and learning can happen.
Has your own experience working in a school district led you to conclude that the number and nature of administrative roles in District 65 is excessive? Assuming you do have this experience and expertise, what positions on this list would you suggest cutting or combining? What exactly about the scope of the responsibilities of these roles leads you to believe that the administrative assistants for these positions are superfluous?
Wow - An actual response from an Alderman! I think I'm hitting a nerve on this.
Sure, there may be other 'burbs that are charging, but has anyone ever challenged the legality of it in court?
Does anyone remember Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice?" A pound of flesh, but not one drop of blood.... Unless the city can prove THEIR leaves from THEIR trees are not getting into my yard, they should not be charging me to pick them up. It is a mutual relationship on this subject - I do the work to clean up the leaves from the city trees as well as my and my neighbors trees and the city takes them away. Doesn't get more fair than that!
I agree with the war person. Am tired of this city charging for everything. Im retired on a fixed income and Id rather pay a service then give the city money for this. Leaf bag stickers are a laugh. Good for anyone who stands by their principles. City hall thinks people are made out of money. Lived here for 40 years and have watched everything go to the dogs. Guess you young folk are more amenable to this type of thing than we old ones.
All this debate over the NU "deck" just adds to global warming. Did anyone mention that 20 minutes were spent at SPARC commenting on how nice the design and materials are and the technical challenges of joining the two buildings. It was not NU bashing.
Given some of the behavior of students off campus it is not a stretch to apply it on campus.
As was commented, the real problems are with NU housing off campus, e.g. Foster from Orrington to Ridge, Maple from Foster to Simpson and Simpson from Orrington to Maple. Just look at the beer cans/bottles on the street and lawns that would stay there forever. On a Monday night I found 20 cans in the street on Maple by the park south of Maple---imagine the noise that occurred during that party. Evanston and NU police both said it was the others responsibility to police the area.
On campus the noise is pretty much east of Sheridan and north of Noyes. Unlikely to disturb neighbors unless like on commenter you could anything that was ever a house as a "house" in standard use---unless NU Press staff are sleeping there ?
The Council spends so much time fighting small issues and NU [to pile up number of motions they make or gain votes from those that hate NU ?] and little time addressing the real issues.
BTW If these neighbors care so much about the neighborhood, why don't they even clean the cans/bottles/garbage from their own lawns and curbs---no all talk, no action. It looks like Roycemore is a big cause around the school. Has Fiske gone after them ?
I agree with the story about the importance of access and knowledge of the Internet, but---
At EPL and even NU what you constantly see are people using the Web for TV programs, watching cartoons, their movies on DVDs, listening to music and playing games. That is no surprise from the studies showing the breakdown of how the Internet is used but is surprising how much NU students use it as such. It does call into question how well improvements will solve educational problems.
These uses also take-up a lot of bandwidth and so reduce the available bandwidth for more productive uses. Even with fiber optics or whatever, "real" speeds are reduced by this and many other factors. The U.S. has been far behind many other countries in bandwidth---will even the "Google" project bring cities served up to that level ? or do other factors upline reduce the contribution once it hits the home ?
Evanston resident, i am not surprised to see you are a NU staff member,this building is in Alderwoman Fiske ward,and i am glad she is looking for the safety of are community.Northwestern University is part of are community,separation is what has put Evanston and Northwestern so far apart.I am glade that you admit that you have seen the unruly behavior in our ward.It has gotten alot better in the last year.It is time that Northwestern and the town of Evanston have a better relationship.
You got there a few minutes before I did, Evanston resident. Yes, it's quite likely Northwestern University is doing its own due diligence regarding liability and contruction of a new social facility on its campus that will involve hundreds and eventually thousands of students ... and their parents, and their tuition. Why, then, have we all paid several days worth of homage to Judy Fiske's bullying on the subject, to the point we lose sight of reality?
NU has solid academic and social leadership, and a civic and business braintrust that rather outweighs that of Evanston's City Council. Thousands of educated parents entrust their children to the university every year - there must be an informed reason.
Aldermen, please leave Northwestern alone and pay attention to that which actually needs attention in our city.
Yes, there three houses in that block. Their tenants are: (a) a fraternity (more rowdy NU students, dear god); (b) the Art Theory department on 629 Colfax and (c) NU Press on 625 Colfax.
Regardless of who the occupants are, Judy Fiske should actually solve Evanston problems, not NU ones. Liability is such that access to that deck will be closely monitored by the university (as are all decks on campus), so Fiske is wasting her time.
I've been witness to the unruly behavior of undergrads described above, but I've never seen it in university property. Rather, looks at the rentals around Evanston, with their rickety back porches.
First, who cares about the election, it is over and we are all happy for all 600 of you. You must still have your Obama sticker on your car.
Second, since NU pays for nothing (and we obviously do with property taxes), maybe Ald. Fiske can charge NU to use the party deck, thereby allowing her to oversee the use of the deck and adding revenue for our fiscal calamity.
In today's environment, such an overreach by Government surely would be allowable.:)
Alderman Fiske is only asking the proper questions when discussing the proposed party deck. Alderman Fiske has been very instrumental in trying to forge a better relationship with NU( as well as other aldermen and our city manager) and it is already bringing about positive change. Sure, there are many critical issues facing the city, and while this is not at the top of the list, it is certainly an area of concern for those living in the surrounding areas. And, while Dan is correct in his comments about the fiscal health of our city, he fails to realize that Alderman Fiske has been an integral part of the budget process from day one and has asked the tough questions. Finally, I find the comments of "Mr. Who Knows", who as we all know is REALLY Bill Smith( esteemed editor, reporter, blogger, etc, of this on line publication)condescending and sarcastic! It is always amazing that when he attacks someone, he has to hide behind his alter ego!
As a first ward resident, I am extremely proud to have Judy Fiske representing me. I might add, that so did well over 600 other first ward residents!
In Naperville a yard waste sticker is required on each bag or bundle placed at the curb on garbage day. Stickers cost $2.10 each
http://www.naperville.il.us/yardwaste.aspx
The service is optional in Northfield - if you want it, you pay
http://www.northfieldil.org/
Lake Forest charges for stickers
http://www.cityoflakeforest.com/cs/pw/cs_pw2b1a.htm
In Wilmette, biodegradable Yard Waste bags and official Village Yard Waste Stickers ($2.25 per sticker) are available for purchase at the following locations:
http://www.wilmette.com/departments/public_works/yardwastecollection.aspx
I agree. Ms. Mendez has only been in the district 5 years. She does not have the experience as a principal, nor as a middle school teacher, which I find disturbing. I think it has been shown that Dr. Murphy has begun to hire principals w/little or no experience...case in point, Oakton, and use them as his puppets.
Do those trees add any value to your house or your property? I bet they do, probably a lot more than the stickers will cost.
I know Wilmette has fall street leaf pick-up, but I think you need stickers for yard waste any other time.
Whoa. Someone is really fired up about the yard waste stickers. Also, It seems awfully hard to identify the offending tree from the leaves on the ground. Lots of trees in town drop lots of leaves every fall. No one says you have to pick up your leaves, feel free to avoid the trouble if you don't mind ticking off your neighbors and killing the lawn. FWIW, the spring and fall clean ups are going to cost many times the total of the yard waste stickers.
I agree! Time to throw the fat cats out!
Ms. Foster, perhaps you do not work in private industry. But the days of a secretary for each manager/administrator were over by the early 1990s as I entered the workforce.
To have this many administrators each with his or her own secretary is the definition of wasteful. I have worked in private industry and in government. I can assure you that the head of the companies where I worked and the head of the government offices where I worked have always SHARED secretaries. There were no (count 'em...none) individuals who had a secretary as a single assignment.
With labor costs at District 65 at 80 percent, this is no trivial matter. It's time for District 65 to join the rest of private industry and government and cut its excessive administrative costs. This includes assistants.
The Superintendent can share a secretary with one other person. For every other administrator -- they should be three administrators to every one secretary.
I have personally seen what qualifies as "work" at the Hill Center as I have had meetings with administrators there. It's a joke. I can guarantee that once they cut staff at the Hill Center, those who still have jobs will suddenly become much more focused on the quality of their work and maybe parents' phone calls will actually get returned.
Or we can just keep doing what we are doing -- parents waiting in lines for hours on short notice just to register their kids for kindergarten, the D65 Administration cutting dozens of classroom teachers first, the Board being led by the nose into ridiculous and short-sighted decisions time and time again, Board members prattling on and on during Board meetings about taking a knife to programs when they know nothing about those programs and don't take the time to learn.
D65 needs a major shakeup. I can't wait until my children are out of that disaster masquerading as a multi-million dollar school district. (On the other hand, I am very impressed with my children's school and their teachers there. My children are getting a good education in spite of the D65 Administration.) As a life-long Democrat, I surprise myself when I say that, after dealing with the lunacy of the D65 Administration and Board for several years, I support vouchers for all children in Illinois. With vouchers, D65 should have to shape up or start holding its own bake sales to pay for Hardy Murphy's salary, retirement benefits, car, housing allowance, etc.
By any chance are there any performances during the day for schools?
Luisa
I seem to remember that Evanston once required "official" yard waste bags that had the collection fee included in the price of the bags. The bags even had a city logo on them and non-official bags would only be picked up if there was a sticker.
Does anyone else remember these and the dates of their inception and discontinuance?
And much of Evanston is affordable because of the crime. If crime were to decrease to, say, Highland Park levels, I believe it would no longer be affordable. But, it's the trade off we live with and the choice we have made.
I agree, relations should be better. But ridiculous demands from Fiske don't help move the relation in that direction. The unruly student behavior happens off campus for a reason: it is impossible on campus. It's not even possible to have a well attended academic talk because the NU police comes and kicks out anyone standing in the corridors when the room is at sitting capacity. In the building I work, there is a deck (and there are no undergraduates). It is locked so much of the time that is rarely used. Fiske also complained about too many pavers. I suppose the new construction by the lake at Church and Sheridan is not part of her ward: talk about cement and pavers overkill. And that is actually city property.
My point is simple: solve city problems -- there are plenty of them. Rowdy parties on a planned campus deck exist in her imagination and that of those who dislike NU.
And, by the way, I'm also a tax-paying Evanston townie.
Ms. Brinkman,
Do you have experience working with D65? Do you have kids in D65? Have you ever tried to get an email or a phone call answered from anyone who works in administration in D65. Anyone has would tell you that there is plenty of dead weight that can be cut in the administrative staff at D65. I'm not going to name names or positions, but I can assure you that there are plenty of people there who illustrate the Peter Principal: "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence."
My leaves are going into the street this fall.
Mr. Brinkmann,
I'm wondering if you understand what and who it takes to operate a school district effectively and efficiently. I don't work for D65, but my career does involve working with school districts throughout this state and in other states. The positions on the list that you've copied from the District website do not appear to me to be exorbitant, or any different from the kinds of positions that most school districts with 6,000+ students need to run well. School districts no more just "educate children" any more than hospitals just "treat patients". There are many layers of operation that serve many important purposes in order to make sure good teaching and learning can happen.
Has your own experience working in a school district led you to conclude that the number and nature of administrative roles in District 65 is excessive? Assuming you do have this experience and expertise, what positions on this list would you suggest cutting or combining? What exactly about the scope of the responsibilities of these roles leads you to believe that the administrative assistants for these positions are superfluous?
Wow - An actual response from an Alderman! I think I'm hitting a nerve on this.
Sure, there may be other 'burbs that are charging, but has anyone ever challenged the legality of it in court?
Does anyone remember Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice?" A pound of flesh, but not one drop of blood.... Unless the city can prove THEIR leaves from THEIR trees are not getting into my yard, they should not be charging me to pick them up. It is a mutual relationship on this subject - I do the work to clean up the leaves from the city trees as well as my and my neighbors trees and the city takes them away. Doesn't get more fair than that!
I agree with the war person. Am tired of this city charging for everything. Im retired on a fixed income and Id rather pay a service then give the city money for this. Leaf bag stickers are a laugh. Good for anyone who stands by their principles. City hall thinks people are made out of money. Lived here for 40 years and have watched everything go to the dogs. Guess you young folk are more amenable to this type of thing than we old ones.
do these new positions come with new, and higher, salaries, hm?
where did that money come from...
All this debate over the NU "deck" just adds to global warming. Did anyone mention that 20 minutes were spent at SPARC commenting on how nice the design and materials are and the technical challenges of joining the two buildings. It was not NU bashing.
Given some of the behavior of students off campus it is not a stretch to apply it on campus.
As was commented, the real problems are with NU housing off campus, e.g. Foster from Orrington to Ridge, Maple from Foster to Simpson and Simpson from Orrington to Maple. Just look at the beer cans/bottles on the street and lawns that would stay there forever. On a Monday night I found 20 cans in the street on Maple by the park south of Maple---imagine the noise that occurred during that party. Evanston and NU police both said it was the others responsibility to police the area.
On campus the noise is pretty much east of Sheridan and north of Noyes. Unlikely to disturb neighbors unless like on commenter you could anything that was ever a house as a "house" in standard use---unless NU Press staff are sleeping there ?
The Council spends so much time fighting small issues and NU [to pile up number of motions they make or gain votes from those that hate NU ?] and little time addressing the real issues.
BTW If these neighbors care so much about the neighborhood, why don't they even clean the cans/bottles/garbage from their own lawns and curbs---no all talk, no action. It looks like Roycemore is a big cause around the school. Has Fiske gone after them ?
I agree with the story about the importance of access and knowledge of the Internet, but---
At EPL and even NU what you constantly see are people using the Web for TV programs, watching cartoons, their movies on DVDs, listening to music and playing games. That is no surprise from the studies showing the breakdown of how the Internet is used but is surprising how much NU students use it as such. It does call into question how well improvements will solve educational problems.
These uses also take-up a lot of bandwidth and so reduce the available bandwidth for more productive uses. Even with fiber optics or whatever, "real" speeds are reduced by this and many other factors. The U.S. has been far behind many other countries in bandwidth---will even the "Google" project bring cities served up to that level ? or do other factors upline reduce the contribution once it hits the home ?
Evanston resident, i am not surprised to see you are a NU staff member,this building is in Alderwoman Fiske ward,and i am glad she is looking for the safety of are community.Northwestern University is part of are community,separation is what has put Evanston and Northwestern so far apart.I am glade that you admit that you have seen the unruly behavior in our ward.It has gotten alot better in the last year.It is time that Northwestern and the town of Evanston have a better relationship.
It's really incredibly insane that marijuana is still illegal.
You got there a few minutes before I did, Evanston resident. Yes, it's quite likely Northwestern University is doing its own due diligence regarding liability and contruction of a new social facility on its campus that will involve hundreds and eventually thousands of students ... and their parents, and their tuition. Why, then, have we all paid several days worth of homage to Judy Fiske's bullying on the subject, to the point we lose sight of reality?
NU has solid academic and social leadership, and a civic and business braintrust that rather outweighs that of Evanston's City Council. Thousands of educated parents entrust their children to the university every year - there must be an informed reason.
Aldermen, please leave Northwestern alone and pay attention to that which actually needs attention in our city.
Yes, there three houses in that block. Their tenants are: (a) a fraternity (more rowdy NU students, dear god); (b) the Art Theory department on 629 Colfax and (c) NU Press on 625 Colfax.
Regardless of who the occupants are, Judy Fiske should actually solve Evanston problems, not NU ones. Liability is such that access to that deck will be closely monitored by the university (as are all decks on campus), so Fiske is wasting her time.
I've been witness to the unruly behavior of undergrads described above, but I've never seen it in university property. Rather, looks at the rentals around Evanston, with their rickety back porches.
First, who cares about the election, it is over and we are all happy for all 600 of you. You must still have your Obama sticker on your car.
Second, since NU pays for nothing (and we obviously do with property taxes), maybe Ald. Fiske can charge NU to use the party deck, thereby allowing her to oversee the use of the deck and adding revenue for our fiscal calamity.
In today's environment, such an overreach by Government surely would be allowable.:)
Ha ha, just kidding.....
Alderman Fiske is only asking the proper questions when discussing the proposed party deck. Alderman Fiske has been very instrumental in trying to forge a better relationship with NU( as well as other aldermen and our city manager) and it is already bringing about positive change. Sure, there are many critical issues facing the city, and while this is not at the top of the list, it is certainly an area of concern for those living in the surrounding areas. And, while Dan is correct in his comments about the fiscal health of our city, he fails to realize that Alderman Fiske has been an integral part of the budget process from day one and has asked the tough questions. Finally, I find the comments of "Mr. Who Knows", who as we all know is REALLY Bill Smith( esteemed editor, reporter, blogger, etc, of this on line publication)condescending and sarcastic! It is always amazing that when he attacks someone, he has to hide behind his alter ego!
As a first ward resident, I am extremely proud to have Judy Fiske representing me. I might add, that so did well over 600 other first ward residents!
Spent about 5 minutes on this - I am sure there are more examples but for now:
Some communities charge for yard waste, some don’t. Here are some that do:
Highland park charges for yard waste
http://www.cityhpil.com/cmo/administration_refuse_recycling_guide3.html
Arlington Heights charges
http://www.cityhpil.com/cmo/administration_refuse_recycling_guide3.html
In Naperville a yard waste sticker is required on each bag or bundle placed at the curb on garbage day. Stickers cost $2.10 each
http://www.naperville.il.us/yardwaste.aspx
The service is optional in Northfield - if you want it, you pay
http://www.northfieldil.org/
Lake Forest charges for stickers
http://www.cityoflakeforest.com/cs/pw/cs_pw2b1a.htm
In Wilmette, biodegradable Yard Waste bags and official Village Yard Waste Stickers ($2.25 per sticker) are available for purchase at the following locations:
http://www.wilmette.com/departments/public_works/yardwastecollection.aspx
I agree. Ms. Mendez has only been in the district 5 years. She does not have the experience as a principal, nor as a middle school teacher, which I find disturbing. I think it has been shown that Dr. Murphy has begun to hire principals w/little or no experience...case in point, Oakton, and use them as his puppets.
Do those trees add any value to your house or your property? I bet they do, probably a lot more than the stickers will cost.
I know Wilmette has fall street leaf pick-up, but I think you need stickers for yard waste any other time.
Whoa. Someone is really fired up about the yard waste stickers. Also, It seems awfully hard to identify the offending tree from the leaves on the ground. Lots of trees in town drop lots of leaves every fall. No one says you have to pick up your leaves, feel free to avoid the trouble if you don't mind ticking off your neighbors and killing the lawn. FWIW, the spring and fall clean ups are going to cost many times the total of the yard waste stickers.