Cleveland Schools Rate Excellent in ONE Area…Compensation

Cleveland Municipal School District’s General Operating Revenue is $661,224,776, intended for the purpose of educating 47,615 students, equaling $14,582 per pupil. Only 1.69%, or $14,633,942 total revenue is spent on supplies, textbooks, and equipment, equaling $307 per pupil per year. Even less, $8.5 million is used to transport students to and from school. $59.5 million is allocated to ‘other purchased services’ including maintenance, telephones, postage, printing, school bus and computer lease services, legal fees and out of district tuition payments. It takes a little over $16 million to pay for utilities. Together, these basic necessities add up to $2,088 per pupil.

So where does the other $12,493.32 per PUPIL go?

There are 3,583 full time teachers earning an average salary of $65,575 per year, ranking 24^th highest of Ohio’s 611 School Districts. Over $70 million goes to administrative costs covering 580 administrators receiving an average annual salary of $70,000. Salaries and benefits of the district’s employees account for nearly 75%, over $494 million of Cleveland Municipal School District’s General Operating Revenue. Of that, 27%, or $127 million is needed to maintain employee benefits including health insurance and retirement benefits.

Seemingly, Cleveland Municipal School teachers and personnel are looked upon more favorably by the community than our own police department. Take the example of the reaction following 2 Cleveland police officers who misidentified a dead body on Interstate 90 for a dear. Citizens were so outraged, rallies were held in an effort to end the careers of those officers. Ultimately they were suspended for 6 months without pay. What if employees of Cleveland’s School District were held to the same standards as the Cleveland Police Department?

Is it so unrealistic to expect the best academic standards in order to compensate for the district’s highly inadequate proportion of revenue funding faculty and staff? Considering 3 out of 4 teachers have more than 10 years experience, shouldn’t they be held to an even higher standard of achievement?

Of 611 school districts in Ohio, Cleveland receives $392,165,824 in state tax revenue (the highest of all districts), $150 million more than Columbus who comes in second (with 4,348 more students).  Despite having 2 months paid vacation, Cleveland teachers have the 2^nd highest absentee rate in the entire state. Less than 50% of Cleveland teachers have a master’s degree, ranking 529^th statewide, but as previously stated, are the 24^th highest paid teachers of Ohio. Cleveland ranks 4^th lowest in the amount of core courses being taught by highly qualified teachers.

Less than 20 of 103 schools throughout the district were able to meet 1 state requirement in reading, math, writing, social studies or science. Elementary grades 3-7 rank lowest statewide in all 5 subjects. Cleveland was 1 of only 7 districts in the state who met only 3 of 30 Ohio Standards.  Consequentially, the district has the 5^th lowest ACT and 12^th lowest SAT scores in the state. Most alarming, Cleveland has the lowest graduation and highest dropout rates in the entire state of Ohio.

Cleveland schools consistently rank bad, worse, and worst in all areas academically. Why is it acceptable the only area Cleveland ranks among the highest is employee compensation?

All facts can be found and verified at the Ohio Department of Education.

Laborers Demanding More Pay for CMSD Employees