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Loading...Fresno School Superintendent Gives Up $800,000 In Salary
What a hero!
Fresno County School Superintendent Larry Powell is giving back $800,000, the amount that what would have been his compensation for the next three years.
Until his term expires in 2015, Powell will run 325 schools and 35 school districts with 195,000 students, all for less than what a starting California teacher earns.
Powell Gives Back Even More Money!
However, it turns out that Powell is actually giving up even more. He technically retired, and then was rehired with a $31,000 salary.
But on August 29, Powell told The Associated Press that he’s also planning to donate that $31,000 salary to charity.
From Yahoo News:
“How much do we need to keep accumulating?” asks Powell, 63. “There’s no reason for me to keep stockpiling money.”
Powell’s generosity is more than just a gesture in a region with some of the nation’s highest rates of unemployment. As he prepares for retirement, he wants to ensure that his pet projects survive California budget cuts. And the man who started his career as a high school civics teacher, who has made anti-bullying his mission, hopes his act of generosity will help restore faith in the government he once taught students to respect.
“A part of me has chaffed at what they did in Bell,” Powell said, recalling the corrupt Southern California city officials who secretly boosted their salaries by hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It’s hard to believe that someone in the public trust would do that to the public. My wife and I asked ourselves ‘What can we do that might restore confidence in government?’”
His move was so low-key that it took four days after the school board meeting for word of his act to get out to the community. There were no press releases or self-congratulatory pats on the back.
Powell Will Work To Protect Important Educational Projects
Powell will still earn a six-figure retirement, especially hefty by the standards of California’s farming heartland. But because his salary comes out of the district’s discretionary budget, for the next three years he’ll be able to steer the money he is giving up where he wants: to programs for kindergarten and preschool, the arts and a pet project that steers B and C students into college by teaching them how to take notes and develop strategy skills.
The Washington Post reports that after an AP story ran about his initial pay sacrifice, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan phoned Powell Monday to thank him for his generosity.
“Larry Powell’s leadership is an absolute inspiration,” Duncan said in a statement.
Thank you, Superintendent Powell!
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Read more: education budget cuts, fresno ca, pink slips for teachers, school superintendent gives back, school superintendent salary
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Recent Comments from Causes
I would have thought it was the other way around...
Good to know! :)
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43 comments
+ add your ownMr. Powell has made approx 1.5 million dollars form Fresno over the last 5 years that he has worked at Fresno Schools. Figure out how long it would take most of you to make that kind of money. Nice of him to give some back, but a Saint? Maybe he was a little overpaid in the first place. How are Fresno students doing in the over all scheme of things by the way?
Mr. Powell has made approx 1.5 million dollars form Fresno over the last 5 years that he has worked at Fresno Schools. Figure out how long it would take most of you to make that kind of money. Nice of him to give some back, but a Saint? Maybe he was a little overpaid in the first place. How are Fresno students doing in the over all scheme of things by the way?
What a great and generous thing to do! It's so nice to hear about the good things that people do. California's public schools need all the help they can get and I think it's wonderful that he's able and willing to take care of his district like that!
WOW!! I saw an interview with this guy on the evening news a few nights ago...now he is a HERO! Not to mention an incredible human being :-)
This couple gives me hope for the human race!
If only the right wing nutters who preach about their connections to god, would step up to the plate, and care for the people they are responsible for, this country could be great again in no time!
REAL CRISTIANS, Added to my Thank you Prayer List.
No Jeffrey, I know that Jimmy Carter, pea nut farmer, was not a Republican. Decent sort of a chap, just had a lot of bad luck.
As Eisenhower predicted, 'Beware the military industrial complex!' The US has lost its way, largely because of the cupidity of mindless people.
As a Fresno County resident, I am blown away by what Powell did. This is an area with loads of poverty. It's an agricultural area, probably the biggest ag area in the nation. As such, there are many migrant farm workers. It also has a high unemployment rate, even higher than California's.
Powell is an ordained Baptist minister, and it is clear he takes his Christian faith seriously.
This man and his wife LOOKED for a way to HELP in their community.They saw the school district he superintends struggling.They offered to take a huge pay cut and when that couldn't be done HE retired. He was then REHIRED at a salary of less than that of a starting teacher. THEN because he says they don't need to keep piling up the money, They plan to DONATE the $31,000! What a WONDERFUL EXAMPLE for ALL of us .We ,who have eyes CAN SEE people and animals--and institutions in NEED of help.Few of us have huge resources.We can give what we have.CLICK TO GIVE--FREE! takes time but by clicking we can help a variety of causes. Helping old ladys cross the stree still works--just PLEASE be sure she WANTS TO CROSS! My point is that The Powells are a WONDERFUL EXAMPLE. WE ALL can LOOK for our OWN OPPORTUNITIES to MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
I would hardly have imagined a man like Superintendant Powell existed in the world still. Thank heavens they do.
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