SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), Chair of Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, announced his introduction of Assembly Bill 2710, a bill that would ensure greater transparency and accountability to prevent excessive school superintendent compensation packages such as that recently reported in the Centinela Valley Union High School District.
“School districts should be spending taxpayer dollars on the kids, not on excessive administrator paychecks,” said Muratsuchi. “While the vast majority of school administrators are honest, hardworking educators, I want to set up a system so that we can prevent abuse and ensure greater transparency and accountability in school districts throughout the state.”
On February 9, 2014, the Daily Breeze reported that the Centinela Valley superintendent received $663,365 in total compensation last year. The Centinela Valley school district is a small district made up of three high schools and one continuation school, with a total enrollment of 6,637. In comparison, the superintendent of neighboring Los Angeles Unified School District, made up of 900 schools and a total enrollment of 655,494, received $389,997 in total compensation last year.
AB 2710 would: 1) require county offices of education to review local superintendents’ compensation on an annual basis; 2) require a school district to post their superintendent’s employment contract and information on school district finances on their web site; 3) require school board members to receive training on ethics and governance; and 4) restrict school districts from providing low-interest home loans such as that provided by the Centinela Valley Union High School District to their superintendent as part of his compensation package.
This bill may be heard in the Assembly Education Committee later this month.
Assemblymember Muratsuchi represents the 66th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, the Los Angeles communities of Harbor City and Harbor Gateway, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance and the unincorporated communities of El Camino Village and West Carson.
Please visit the Assemblymember’s website, http://asmdc.org/members/a66/ for more information.
