Hartford Superintendent of Schools Beth Narvaez
Even more obscene is that most of the people on this list have no direct contact with children or their educations.
Please , can someone explain to me how we can justify these salaries for administration and we can't find money for the front line educators in the class rooms, actually impacting children's lives.
I am really not sure how we justify paying an Executive Director ( whatever that position is) as much or more than we pay our Police Chief, Fire Chief , or for that matter our Mayor.
And the most obscene is paying a Superintendent $257,500 annually. Especially when she has failed so many children, especially a 13 year old child that was victimized by one of her highly paid disciples. And no one can convince me she had no prior knowledge of his behavior.
The list wasn't broken down by those salaries that actually are made by Hartford residents, but I will bet my Powerball tickets that there are very few on the list spending their paychecks in Hartford
May I weigh in here, Kevin? First, those in the highest echelons of educational administration who have spent many years working on their doctorates, are deserving of salaries commensurate with their education. However, somehow these salaries have gone out of control just as CEOs are commanding 10s of millions and if a company doesn't cough up, they don't get the pick of the litter.
ReplyDeleteNow to this administrator, she doesn't Understand public relations and giving back the 3% would simply be insurance against continued criticism. She also appears to have been quite neglectful and ignoring a pedofile in her company. She should fall on her sword and leave. But if she does, she will admit to guilt. So she has no choice but to stay and weather the storm.
6:13PM
DeleteSHE IS NOT GOING TO GIVE BACK THE 3%. SHE IS GREEDY!
Disgusting, no other word for it, just simply disgusting
ReplyDeleteWhat is next? naming a Hartford school the Sandusky Institute to show just how much we care about Hartford's kids
ReplyDeleteUnions are supposed to be about standing to together.
ReplyDeleteHartford School employees in the 100+ club should forgo their raise to help out their fellow union members.
I'm also sickened the that state unions did not want to reopen contract talk with Malloy to potentially avert state layoffs.
Why are they paying a part time director a $143,000? And so many directors and chiefs, not enough Indians.
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ReplyDeleteUnions will always shout that they are all for their union brothers. Except when it comes time to sacrifice and secure their jobs by renegotiating. Then the care not for their fellow Union brothers with less seniority.
Truth hurts.
7:51PM
ReplyDeletegood questions, now try asking the Board and see if you get a good answer, I'll bet you don't
The BOE administration is a breeding ground for predators.
ReplyDeleteYou may get the mic cut of on you and ask to leave just like a trump rally if you talk about the tough issues. They don't want to hear from concerned parents.
ReplyDeleteYou may get the mic cut off and ask to leave if you say anything the puppet master Wareing doesn't like. Parents don't have a voice in Hartford.
ReplyDeleteIt's like a trump rally now !
The city and state are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Hartford school system with poor results. Now we can all see that a lot of this money is not spent on the students but on some ugly, fat cats, "administrators" within the "system."
ReplyDeleteThis is truly disgusting.
I am really not sure how we justify paying an Executive Director ( whatever that position is) as much or more than we pay our Police Chief, Fire Chief , or for that matter our Mayor.
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If cops and fire guys want more money they, too, should consider working for the State. We could have law enforcement and fire districts administered by State boards elected by the locals. That way there would be the illusion of self-government, but the worst the taxpayer could do would be to grovel and beg for give-backs of this or that raise or benefit (mandated by union contract). And, if neither fire nor crime were adequately controlled for decades on end, we could just hire more and more PhDs to man the desks at headquarters.
This current Super isn't to blame. We've all been aware for decades that the schools, especially the Hartford District ones, are awful. Twenty years ago the State installed its own Super, and we've had any number come and go. The situation in the schools doesn't ever get (much) better. We need markets; schools selling education and kids buying with their money (or voucher). Let individual schools compete, and decide how much to pay their staff.
Levey,
ReplyDeleteBig difference is Trump funds and pays for his own rallies. The Hartford Board of Education is funded and paid for by us, our opinions should be heard in a democracy, even if they make the power brokers uncomfortable, It is called accountability
Kevin, since Trump funds and pays for his own rallies, I guess you feel it gives him the right to encourage violence! But of course, that issue is a non-starter. If you are defending Trump, you are defending a person who has no moral compass. Who has no ideology which really, is in many resp CT's, preferable to being locked into inflexible ideologue. But in addition, he is a first rate schister liar for those of you devoid of Yiddish lexicon. Trump is wholly fictional character of his own making. He is whol unfit to do anything beside sitting in his gold-encrusted suite figuring how to fleese the public with another bird-brain idea.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know if I could call him worst prospect than George W Bush. Both have serious mental/emotional disturbances that make either highly unqualified to be president.
If I were you, I would hold my nose and vote for Hillary. She is flawed in so many ways, but at least she has a long experience in government. And we need a moderate Supreme Court direction since Mr Meatballs met his maker. (I'm Italian, I can say that, lol.) you like that alliteration?
I sense you won't publish this because you are so defensive of Trump.
Are you freakin kidding me? $143,000 for a part time job? Where do I sign up?
ReplyDeleteIf these folks were anywhere near their worth, Htfd schools would be turning out many more college bound students. And that is not happening.
Does anyone even check to see these people are even showing up? No wonder the poor city is broke. It's time to get rid of this excess baggage and get back to basics.
Lay off the dog catchers? Do they make even $35,ooo? 2 dogcatchers equals $70,000 if that number is close. That's HALF of what one guy mentioned above gets for working part time. Absolutely crazy!
Trump did not pay for all the public safety OT for his rally. Not one dime. That one is on us. And while I think it would be pc of the superintendent to forgo her scheduled salary increase, I don't begrudge her the level of compensation. The requirements for certification and the job are far more stringent than that required of a police chief say, and she is responsible for a larger budget and far more employees (and Genao was an Adamowski mistake by the way). Not to mention the level of responsibility of trying to educate 20,000 students, a far majority of them at or below poverty level. Superintendents in wealthy districts make as much or more as the Hartford superintendent and don't have nearly as many challenges as Hartford. Is she paid alot? Yes. Should she be? Yes.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of pay, Kevin, have you gotten your hand on Bronin's pay stub to see if he is being paid the lower salary he committed to?
You're asking for what? Accountability? In Hartford? At the Board of Ed?
ReplyDeleteKeep on dreaming.
Hi Kevin, Can you get and post the salaries for City employees as well? I'm wondering how they compare with the schools. Does most of the school funding come from the City or State taxpayers?
ReplyDeleteSuperintendents salaries and benefits have been out of control for many years. The former two Mayors Eddie Perez and Pedro Seggara both sat as Board of Education members. This was totally disgusting. Both of them had no clue. However, plenty of their personal friends got big paying jobs. Full and part-time Administrators are over paid. Hartford is the place to work as an educator because the union pay outs are very big. However, the average classroom music, art and physical education and on and on do not make big salaries. Eventually,teachers who earn higher education degrees do get more money. The State Board of Education Chairman is paid a ridiculous amount of money. And has made a lot of bad calls over the years. The present Hartford Superintendent and her side kick Board of Education Chair are jokes. Both have no leadership skills and are not in communication with the students never mind the parents. Both should have been immediately dismissed after this recent administrator episode. The taxpayer has no say. They just pay the salaries and most of the time get very poor results.
ReplyDeleteThe big problem with the Hartford Board of Education Superintendent, her Assistant and the Hartford Board of Education Chairman is there is no accountability. There is no direct interaction with the students or parents. The spending is out of control. There are to many Chiefs. The State of Connecticut should take over. They did it before. This latest administrator issue is very serious. Termination of the Board of Education Superintedent should have been done immediately.
ReplyDeleteThe Board of Education Superintendent will weather the Hartford storm. They all do. I cannot count how many Superintendents there have been in Hartford in the past twenty years. They come and go usually with a lot of money. Some were so dysfunctional and caused disarray among excellent teachers, students, parents and staff. Board of Education members have come and gone too. However, there is no stipend awarded to them. The Board of Education Chair is out of control. He should step aside. His echo is out of control and causes more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteSo get rid of teachers, counselors and essential people who work in the school district instead of these downtown salaries. Really? The public should be outraged. This is total bullshit, Thank you for all your work once again.
ReplyDeleteThe Superintendent is a joke and she must GO! She wants to eliminate staff that don't agree with her and will stand up for kids!
You can send your message by being at the march Monday at 4:30
ReplyDeleteWE NEED YOU!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLevy Kardulis, Milly Arcenegas, Dr. Aron Lewis, Hyacinth Yennie, Lou Delgado and Andrea Johnson - I hope all of you can make it to the Hartford City Council meeting this Monday at 6pm and speak up for students and teachers and speak out against the Superintendent, BOE Chair, BOE Chief of Staff and these ridiculous salaries during the public comment. You guys are fighting the good fight don't let up now. Let's finish the job and help the City Council get their heads out of the sand.
I honestly do believe that the Superintendent and the Board feel that if they delay my FOI requests long enough and they keep information from getting out, we will all just lose interest and go away. THIS INVOLVES CHILDREN, we can not give up we need to keep the pressure on until we are confident that this will never be ignored again.
ReplyDeleteShow them the power of social media and an the power of people that care and won't give up. Post this everywhere you can think of and encourage anyone that cares about innocent children being victimized to show up.
What dose Hartford's seven Assistant Superintendents do including all these phoney titles earning $140,000 plus a year. Note: Hartford Board of Education members are all these positions really needed. The basic skills are reading, writing, and mathematics.
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ReplyDeleteI am really not sure how we justify paying an Executive Director ( whatever that position is) as much or more than we pay our Police Chief, Fire Chief , or for that matter our Mayor.
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If cops and fire guys want more money they, too, should consider working for the State. We could have law enforcement and fire districts administered by State boards elected by the locals. That way there would be the illusion of self-government, but the worst the taxpayer could do would be to grovel and beg for give-backs of this or that raise or benefit (mandated by union contract). And, if neither fire nor crime were adequately controlled for decades on end, we could just hire more and more PhDs to man the desks at headquarters.
This current Super isn't to blame. We've all been aware for decades that the schools, especially the Hartford District ones, are awful. Twenty years ago the State installed its own Super, and we've had any number come and go. The situation in the schools doesn't ever get (much) better. We need markets; schools selling education and kids buying with their money (or voucher). Let individual schools compete, and decide how much to pay their staff.
Predators are still at the BOE. and City Hall. In the recent Mayoral primary both Segarra and Bronin had their own perverts working for them.Nothing will change in Hartford until you get rid of these predators. Thanks to the folks organizing the Moday March.
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ReplyDeleteAnd spelling.
AnonymousMay 7, 2016 at 3:18 PM
ReplyDeleteThe Board of Education Superintendent will weather the Hartford storm. They all do. I cannot count how many Superintendents there have been in Hartford in the past twenty years.
Exactly! Are you seeing a pattern here?
No company, organization, sports franchise, city or board of education can succeed with the turnover rate you see in Hartford. Change change change, let's keep changing until we "all" get what we want. Do you honestly think we will get there that way?
Can you identify another school system that's succeeded with the turnover rate of Hartford?
Go get'em Monday! Hope you thought through a contingency plan, I'm sure the perfect superintendent with all the answers is just waiting to take the job, probably for 30,000 a year.
@8:54
ReplyDeleteThe Contingency Plan
Is there really a need for a school system? The money that could be saved by closing the department is tremendous. We won't have anymore changes to contend with. No predictors. No more failed test scores and $10,000.00 bonuses paid out to teachers to erase wrong answers. No more personal holding on to their bloated compensation packages. The tax mil rate would decrease. The children wouldn't suffer since they don't learn anyways. And vola... No more turnover.
What would happen if we went to the State of CT and remind them that the Connecticut Constitution says that education is the responsibility of the State, not the municipality. Hartford is broke so pay up your responsibility State of Connecticut. I am sure the State would then make sure that money is spent responsibly.
ReplyDeleteOops, iPad mistake. "Predators" not "Predictors."
ReplyDeleteKevin, interesting idea. A municipal government suing the State on Constitutional grounds. Hartford has a shrinking grand list. State along with non-profits and more each day. I understand the former restaurant on the corner of Franklin and South St has been bought by MDC. If so, another property taken off the grand list.
I don't think Bronin would create trouble for the governor since they have slept in the same bed. But it is an intriguing thought. The PR fallout and story would make national media no doubt. It is clear that Hartford is falling apart at the seems. The budget can't be met. The neighborhoods are in massive decline and the decline will continue because ever more disparate new world people are pouring in to take the place of those who have achieved a modicum of success and move on out. I reckon this to a leaking dike where the waters keep rising and patches are made as the dike begins to quake.
The worse is yet to come. Trust me on this one. It's what my crystal ball tells me. Here is one example; No sooner is one house restored and marketed than several more continue to show signs of blight. New home owners don't understand that owning a home is a continuous work in progress. My next door neighbor once responded d to my kind advice about keeping things up to snuff with, "I ain't got no money." This is a good example of the kind of folks that are driving down the neighborhoods. Folks with insufficient finances to address this but having enough money to hire exploitive rental TV systems and furniture. If it wasn't for a vibrant downtown, the city would be another Detroit.
The worst is yet to come.
@10:46
ReplyDeleteThe teachers don't get $10,000 bonuses, I don't know where you get that info from. The $10,000 bonuses are those you see on the 100 Club List. The teachers get a fraction of bonuses for babysitting the 30 kids and get profanity throw at them by the students and their parents.
Don't you all worry for a minute, those salaries will be even higher next year.
ReplyDeleteGuaranteed.
Is there really a need for a school system?
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Maybe with the State going broke and threatening to provide zero (0)funding to the wealthiest school districts the people who think the "system" is ok for them will start to wake up. The government schools all over are increasingly inhumane, bureaucratic, and incompetent. Half the City budget goes to the District, and 30% of the State budget goes to something called "education." Who knows how much of the 10% the State spends on "pensions" goes to the educationists.
Vouchers.
When I was in private school, we were always told that public schools were 2 grades behind. When I switched to public, I found this to be absolutely true. I never discovered why this was so, but I considered that probably our private student body was mostly from middle class familiies and that education had a stronger place in our families. It I never felt that public school teachers were less capable teachers.
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ReplyDeleteI assure you they (administrators or whatever euphemism is in style) are certainly educated beyond their intelligence and the cuts need to start there not with the teachers that are under paid and under supported
12:06 Your tale is negative. There are wonderful diverse people who live in Hartford. Hartford will survive. If you do not like Hartford leave. Move and see if the grass is greener some where else. Please get your facts straight. It is a good thing that MDC bought the property on the corner of Franklin Avenue and South Street in which a burned restaurant exists and years of back taxes are owed to the city.
ReplyDeleteThe cuts must come from the top. There are so many Hartford Public School administrators they fall over one another. The money needs to go to teachers. The teachers who have daily contact with the students in the classrooms and gym.
ReplyDeleteYou said: "What would happen if we went to the State of CT and remind them that the Connecticut Constitution says that education is the responsibility of the State, not the municipality. Hartford is broke so pay up your responsibility State of Connecticut. I am sure the State would then make sure that money is spent responsibly." IF ONLY.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what the Sheff plaintiffs did (what is it - 20 years ago?) and the State has fought that group tooth and nail to provide a decent education to Hartford students despite the Court's finding that it was REQUIRED under the Constitution. And Hartford leadership has dragged their feet as well - more afraid of maintaining their positions then fighting for what's right for the children.
At least the 50% of Hartford students lucky enough to get into the Sheff lottery are now attending better performing schools.
Perhaps it would be more effective for us to split up the remaining 50% of the student population and bus them to the various suburbs around us. No one likes bussing - me included - but to pay these salaries when the children are suffering from dysfunctional and poorly run schools year after year is beyond disheartening.
The current Superintendent inherited a mess, no doubt, but she's given us baby steps of progress when we needed bold, innovative thinking and a total overhaul of the main office. There are fabulous inner city schools in this country - I had hoped for the same here. If she had cut those 100 positions over $100K to 50, then there might have been hope. The opportunity was lost. And now here we are.
this superintendent has been an utter failure. She does not care about the students. She has three state and federal investigations-sands sticker incident , new visions program and protecting a predator. she claims she does not know anything and does not hold herself accountable. Will she fire her best friend chief of staff for failing to report as a mandated reporter? Her reaction or action after all these issues have been pathetic. I want a superintendent that we trust to do right thing and act in a way where children are protected!
ReplyDelete@9:33
ReplyDeleteRespectfully, I don't think you have a good grasp on this Sheff case. It would take too long to counter your statement. Sometimes good intentions produce unnecessarily costly results. But the mandate will bankrupt every entity if it was carried out. Poor education and poor results are not the failed efforts OD school districts. The lack of cohesive family units where learning is encouraged is where the problem should be addressed. Maybe getting a little remedial for the parent(s) is a good beginning.
May 9 at 12:59, I respectfully disagree.
DeleteI understand Sheff quite well - have read the briefs and have followed the legal maneuverings for years. The magnet schools born out of Sheff have been quite expensive - true - but all of the children attending those schools are getting an education that is virtually equivalent to a suburban school education and light-years ahead of what the rest of the Hartford children are getting at the local schools. Our BOE, despite their high salaries and degrees, aren't providing a quality education to our children. That's just a fact. Despite a long succession of superintendents and tons of money, the BOE continues to fail in its one and only job - to provide a quality education to our children.
The children in Sheff schools will end up with an education that will allow them to find employment; they'll have the skills to succeed in college. Talk to any child who has graduated from a Sheff school or from a suburban school through Open Choice and the difference in the opportunities they had, and the opportunities the children in our local schools have, is overwhelming.
How much is it costing Hartford to "graduate" thousands of children year after year who aren't educated well enough to get or keep a job? How many hearts are broken because even if they work hard, find financing and are lucky enough to get into college, they can't make it because they are so far behind their peers academically? How much is it costing the Hartford community to have young men on the streets with nothing to do because they're unemployable? And what does it cost when a good percentage of those young men end up entering the penal system at a young age? And then the cost of a double whammy of limited education and a record, creating even more barriers to success? They often have no choice to but to accept state assistance, at huge cost to society.
Educating our young people is an absolute necessity and the only way the residents of this City will obtain equality. If this BOE can't do it (and they've clearly shown that they can't) then let's find another way. Let's get creative and get these children the education they deserve and is REQUIRED under the Constitution.
Once we can get a large contingency of well educated Hartford children, I would like to think some of those children will come back and be the teachers and administrators of the BOE in the future. And I'd like to think they may actually get it. And they may choose not spend money on trips to FL and $4K fish tanks - but on the children.
7:57 but true.
ReplyDeleteMs.Navrez should take the pay raise. When she was hired,the city was already in a financial crisis. Her contract stated she would get the raise, it never stated she should return the money because teachers or other employees job were or was in jeopardy. Hartford has a documented record of wanting pay raises returned, when the person in question refuses to do so; they are slandered and deemed greedy by " We the people" or other social media outlets. I say take the money Navrez utlize it to leave the state.Move to a city whose primary purpose is to actually educcate children. # title 19
ReplyDelete7:57
ReplyDeleteI beg you to drive down Franklin Ave and take a left or a right down almost any side street. Tell me what you encounter. Let me put it bluntly; You encounter slum. Tell me it isn't so, my man. Tell me where I have exaggerated or lied and I will apologize.
I can't here you, Gomer Pyle. I still can't here you. Give me 50 push-ups now.
@10:58 I agree with everything you said - however I would have said LACK of action by the Supt. I am a new visitor to this site and have really enjoyed the content. However, It amazes me everyday I wake up and not read that the Chief of Staff was terminated or that she looked in the mirror and decided to resign. What a failure and disappointment this Supt. has proven to be. When she was selected I had sooo much hope and optimism that things were going to be different and get better. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Supt. Narvaez you will not have the opportunity to fool me twice. Your LACK of actions says all I need to know about you! I am sure you and your girl friend Chief of Staff will ride off into the sunset and Hartford will only be a figment of your imagination. If you could do us one favor please, please, please? Take that Harvard POS of a BOE Chair with you. To use part of his favorite line - "He is out of order!" SMH
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