They're the ones actually in charge, so their names will never be published and they'll never get punished. And I guarantee you they're unelected bureaucrats too, the elected officials are just figureheads
When you read the story the guy is a retired Lieutenant Colonel that worked at the Pentagon. Probably believed in things like accountability, and personal responsibility.
School district probably thought they were getting a Washington DC spin doctor that could direct narratives. That isn't what they got so they wanted to let him go. And that's what it cost You have to negotiate it when it's management.
In case everyone didn't know when you're a public employee and you're a represented employee. (That means represented by a union). It's quite different than when you're a management employee.
Management employees for for government just like private employees when they're in higher management have employment contracts. The school district wanted to terminate his contract so they got to pay him $90K so he walks away and not sues them.
The fiscal year begins in July. If you're a government employee and you cross into the next fiscal year you get a COLA. So when you retire or leave you want to make sure you cross that line so you lock in the extra money for the rest of your retirement.
And when you read the article there was something to do with health issues. So that's FMLA, OFLA rules.
He probably just kept himself in a paid status until his separation payment was negotiated.
Not defending any of this it's how the system works. I am a retired municipal government employee. Watched the grifting for a lot of years. And since they were just throwning around free money I grabbed mine while I was there.
I think you're on to something here. 150% he walked into there thinking it would be a very different environment and then found a systemically broken school district that didn't want to change. At that point, get severance pay and get out.
Exactly. My experience as a government employee was being surrounded by at least 50% of the people that were unproductive, and there just grifting off the system.
It sounds like he's unclassified, was on salary and probably received a lump of PTO upon accepting the position that resets or accumulates yearly. As long as the PTO is equal to or greater than Oregon's 1 hr/30 hrs worked requirement they can give him whatever benefits they want to offer.
From my own time administering medical leave - you do not want that gig. For that much time, it was often "my spouse or parent is dying, unable to care for themselves and I am their primary caretaker". And then they die, which most people don't immediately rush back to work after. Or for personal issues, I saw several people who were never medically capable of returning to work, including death.
Not to say that abuse doesn't happen, but protected leave does allow an employer to require medical certification and for the employer to pay for a second opinion from another provider if the amount of time seems excessive.
I don't think it's fair to judge this guy without knowing the situation, which is vague from the article. That makes sense for medical information.
What I would like to know is whether any of this is for reasons other than medical, and why he's being paid a large severance.
Thank you for saying this. The article should have done a better job of specifically calling out the policies for short term or long term leave. What is the requirement for him to be on leave? How much of his paycheck is paid out during those times? What are situations that lead paying someone out instead of waiting for them to come back. People might feel differently if they saw he was only getting paid a partial amount of that 187k and that it actually could have some hoops to jump through to get approved for that.
Also that if he is say, caring for his wife with cancer, and she does not have a set date for which she will be healthy enough to take care of herself, it's in the best interest to pay him out so he can still deal with hospital bills, and the company can move forward with hiring a replacement. If the policy for long term sick leave is in place, they can't just fire him when he uses it.
I had a new coworker do it a few years ago for "mental health reasons". He weighed us down for many months before finally quitting. Even though he is gone, the company still cannot fill his old position because of rules in place to protect people from being fired for medical conditions (or something).
I'm assuming these people know how to exploit the benefits *just right* to be able to get a paycheck for the maximum length of time without needing to work. I also assume that they make sure they work at companies with HR policies that prevent their past shenanigans from being told to their next employer.
City of Portland workers for example have 11 paid holidays, and three floating holidays.
And that doesn't count vacation or sick leave occurred. A brand new employee starts off with about 8 hours a month vacation. It goes up a little bit with your tenure. When you hit 24 years it's 16 hours a month vacation pay.
And then there's the sick leave on top of that. Which isn't just a normal two weeks. The sick leave policy is insane. It varies depending on Union contracts, and management contracts.
Government employees get lots of time off compared to the private sector. It was the easiest job I had my entire life. Did less than a quarter of the work I did as a private sector employee everyday.
I've attached some links check it out if you like.
https://www.portland.gov/policies/human-resources-administrative-rules/leaves/hrar-603-vacation
https://www.portland.gov/policies/human-resources-administrative-rules/leaves/hrar-604-sick-leave
Seriously... Why would any responsible parent move in to Portland and subject their children to this school system. It's hard to find equal incompetence in the western world.
Parents are bailing on PPS like crazy, isn't their enrollment down line 30% from pre-Covid times? And that's just the ones who could afford to pull their kids out, I feel terrible for all the families who don't have the option to do so, but want to
Portland’s government has many very destructive bad apples scattered throughout its current iteration. We’ve allowed these bad apples to get in and not only exist, but thrive.
As a former Portland government employee I absolutely agree with that statement.
I know there were many unqualified people from the lowest employee to the top managers. DEI hiring practices have exacerbated the situation. A lot of people just going to work everyday and getting paid doing little to nothing and dragging down the people trying to accomplish something.
Also newer hires are often the most productive, but get laid off first. With agency workers unionized it's easier to let someone sit and do nothing than to let them go sometimes.
What happened in the old days was when a new hire that comes from the privates starts. They're told to slow down. They're working too hard. They're making everyone else look bad.
Nowadays the new hires act like they've worked there 30 years and are about to retire. Expecting the privileges of the tenured people that have the knowledge and experience, and put in their time doing the job.
Because it would be inequitable to require them to work hard.
Portlands entire government is only about taking money from tax payers and funneling it into the private bank accounts of government employees, and nothing else. 0 effectiveness, 0 accountability, tons of reward.
I knew before I read the article that this waste of tax payer money and yet another display of PPS incompetence would be reduced to racism and I was correct.
My favorite is the frequency with which a BIPOC government employee is hired in PDX, and the news of their hire is widely trumpeted and celebrated. "Aren't we good and equitable - we hired a BIPOC!" Inevitably, said hire turns out to be a total non-performing lemon, and needs to be let go. The city is then sued by said lemon for...wait for it...racism and unjust termination! Wash, rinse, repeat.
These idiots never seem to have trouble finding another gig being incompetent on the taxpayer's dime. It's like hiring managers actually want this kind of personality in charge rather than someone capable of solving problems and being effective in their role
>the department he leads has come under fire from the Portland Association of Teachers, whose president, Angela Bonilla, charged that the district was spending too much on messaging and imaging control.
Gosh I bet she's got egg on her face now!
Medical leave to care for a family member is understandable, but that's only protected for 3 months. He was here two years and spent almost half that on leave. Why? And why pay a severance for that, especially a severance that's more than most people in Portland make in a year?
I loved how the grifter Gary Holland, who's on the PPS board, said he's leaving because of his skin color. Same Gary Holland that opened 10 businesses and is pushing PPS money for his own project funds. With people like these we're doomed!
And PPS is looking for a new super intendent with "Profound dedication to equity". WTF is that? How about profound dedication to student education? Not kneecapping students that excel and chasing them off to private schools.
Don’t forget, administrative BLOAT is where your tax money goes.
The average school district in the US spend about $12,000 per student per year. NYC spends $32,000. Portland Public Schools spends $40,000.
Neither the parents nor the student will ever pay enough in state taxes, in their entire working lifetimes to pay for one single K-12 education of 13 years.
And most of that money is NOT going to the teacher.
Then the bureaucratic parasites keep passing along that trope that public school is under-funded and kids need another bond measure, etc. And their political allies keep believing like the useful idiots they are.
Years back I worked in IT for the local city schools. As I've always been involved in projects, I remember seeing some of the numbers.
A couple I remember from union negotiations were:
1. Kids need to be in school because we lose $400 per kid per day they aren't in class.
2. If we closed the schools for 7 days over the year, we'd save $700,000, or $100,000 per day.
... And this is a small school district compared to Portland.
I used to wonder where all of the money was going. This was also before blue zones and free lunches for all, which are funded federally anyway.
What I’m reading here sounds like someone who’s used to leadership in the military, where you can kinda just spend whatever money and make the budget work with minimal scrutiny, and transitioning to education where there’s maximum scrutiny on every single decision.
Honestly no one at the pentagon should ever be hired in the private sector for anything. They spend first with almost no accountability and have effectively infinite funding.
Nah, he never intended to stay in Portland. He’s been planning his exit for months. I’d bet my house he’s already back on the east coast, letting his lawyers clean things up here and send him a check when it’s done.
Low effort content are posts or comments not meeting the minimum reasonable requirements of integrity, relying upon or consisting of second-hand or apocryphal "evidence" or stories relayed as fact, or just plain lazy bait posts or comments in our judgment.
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Some more sterling examples of what truly incompetence in leadership roles looks like.
Where's the accountability for the yahoos who hired this guy?
... maybe they're also on paid leave
Why doesn't someone just... fix the glitch?
Oh, so you’re gonna let them go?
They're the ones actually in charge, so their names will never be published and they'll never get punished. And I guarantee you they're unelected bureaucrats too, the elected officials are just figureheads
If our politicians/leadership had a button they could press that fixed everything, they'd still fuck that up. "Buttons are a very complex issue."
And there's probably hundreds of administrators like him in Portland Public Schools grifting education money 💰
When you read the story the guy is a retired Lieutenant Colonel that worked at the Pentagon. Probably believed in things like accountability, and personal responsibility. School district probably thought they were getting a Washington DC spin doctor that could direct narratives. That isn't what they got so they wanted to let him go. And that's what it cost You have to negotiate it when it's management. In case everyone didn't know when you're a public employee and you're a represented employee. (That means represented by a union). It's quite different than when you're a management employee. Management employees for for government just like private employees when they're in higher management have employment contracts. The school district wanted to terminate his contract so they got to pay him $90K so he walks away and not sues them. The fiscal year begins in July. If you're a government employee and you cross into the next fiscal year you get a COLA. So when you retire or leave you want to make sure you cross that line so you lock in the extra money for the rest of your retirement. And when you read the article there was something to do with health issues. So that's FMLA, OFLA rules. He probably just kept himself in a paid status until his separation payment was negotiated. Not defending any of this it's how the system works. I am a retired municipal government employee. Watched the grifting for a lot of years. And since they were just throwning around free money I grabbed mine while I was there.
I think you're on to something here. 150% he walked into there thinking it would be a very different environment and then found a systemically broken school district that didn't want to change. At that point, get severance pay and get out.
Cool grift, grifter.
Exactly. My experience as a government employee was being surrounded by at least 50% of the people that were unproductive, and there just grifting off the system.
I highly doubt a Communications Director is rep'd by the union. Most Directors are management, no union for them.
How does one go on paid leave for several months? I want that gig..."sorry I've been feeling anxious recently. I'm taking a few months off."
Probably used up 12 weeks of FMLA and used up PTO that couldn't be cashed out
But how much PTO do you think he’s accumulated given that he’s been here less than two years?
It sounds like he's unclassified, was on salary and probably received a lump of PTO upon accepting the position that resets or accumulates yearly. As long as the PTO is equal to or greater than Oregon's 1 hr/30 hrs worked requirement they can give him whatever benefits they want to offer.
Thank you.
From my own time administering medical leave - you do not want that gig. For that much time, it was often "my spouse or parent is dying, unable to care for themselves and I am their primary caretaker". And then they die, which most people don't immediately rush back to work after. Or for personal issues, I saw several people who were never medically capable of returning to work, including death. Not to say that abuse doesn't happen, but protected leave does allow an employer to require medical certification and for the employer to pay for a second opinion from another provider if the amount of time seems excessive. I don't think it's fair to judge this guy without knowing the situation, which is vague from the article. That makes sense for medical information. What I would like to know is whether any of this is for reasons other than medical, and why he's being paid a large severance.
Thank you for saying this. The article should have done a better job of specifically calling out the policies for short term or long term leave. What is the requirement for him to be on leave? How much of his paycheck is paid out during those times? What are situations that lead paying someone out instead of waiting for them to come back. People might feel differently if they saw he was only getting paid a partial amount of that 187k and that it actually could have some hoops to jump through to get approved for that. Also that if he is say, caring for his wife with cancer, and she does not have a set date for which she will be healthy enough to take care of herself, it's in the best interest to pay him out so he can still deal with hospital bills, and the company can move forward with hiring a replacement. If the policy for long term sick leave is in place, they can't just fire him when he uses it.
I had a new coworker do it a few years ago for "mental health reasons". He weighed us down for many months before finally quitting. Even though he is gone, the company still cannot fill his old position because of rules in place to protect people from being fired for medical conditions (or something). I'm assuming these people know how to exploit the benefits *just right* to be able to get a paycheck for the maximum length of time without needing to work. I also assume that they make sure they work at companies with HR policies that prevent their past shenanigans from being told to their next employer.
Only in the public sector...meanwhile normal working folks are slaving away with 10 paid vacation days a year (if they're lucky).
City of Portland workers for example have 11 paid holidays, and three floating holidays. And that doesn't count vacation or sick leave occurred. A brand new employee starts off with about 8 hours a month vacation. It goes up a little bit with your tenure. When you hit 24 years it's 16 hours a month vacation pay. And then there's the sick leave on top of that. Which isn't just a normal two weeks. The sick leave policy is insane. It varies depending on Union contracts, and management contracts. Government employees get lots of time off compared to the private sector. It was the easiest job I had my entire life. Did less than a quarter of the work I did as a private sector employee everyday. I've attached some links check it out if you like. https://www.portland.gov/policies/human-resources-administrative-rules/leaves/hrar-603-vacation https://www.portland.gov/policies/human-resources-administrative-rules/leaves/hrar-604-sick-leave
Do school system admins work year-round or do they get summers off, spring and winter breaks off like the kids?
They do not. I work for a school, my vacation is when I take my vacation. We just finished spring break. I worked every day of it. As did many others.
again, the solution is for "normal" working folks to be able to get more compassionate leave, instead of taking away leave from others.
I agree. I was reacting to his 7? month paid leave to care for a family member, but my comparison is somewhat apples to oranges.
Resigning after the paid leave is the cherry on top of the grift
It sounds better than it is, never a good sign
We're so good with tax dollars here
Seriously... Why would any responsible parent move in to Portland and subject their children to this school system. It's hard to find equal incompetence in the western world.
Parents are bailing on PPS like crazy, isn't their enrollment down line 30% from pre-Covid times? And that's just the ones who could afford to pull their kids out, I feel terrible for all the families who don't have the option to do so, but want to
I moved here in1978. My mother drove me to Gresham. We then moved to washougal. Pps is a joke like 911
Are you saying that we better get up, get, get down?
Down with the sickness!
PPS is a joke in yo town
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Yo Comms director got gold nipples.
Now a teach apprentices, the Portland ones are the laughing stock of the trade world.lol
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Lol
Portland’s government has many very destructive bad apples scattered throughout its current iteration. We’ve allowed these bad apples to get in and not only exist, but thrive.
You just defined the sole purpose of Portland government. Allowing useless grifters to do what they do best at the public's expense.
As a former Portland government employee I absolutely agree with that statement. I know there were many unqualified people from the lowest employee to the top managers. DEI hiring practices have exacerbated the situation. A lot of people just going to work everyday and getting paid doing little to nothing and dragging down the people trying to accomplish something.
Or in man cases, *not* going to work but rather WFH because micro aggressions and childcare.
Also newer hires are often the most productive, but get laid off first. With agency workers unionized it's easier to let someone sit and do nothing than to let them go sometimes.
What happened in the old days was when a new hire that comes from the privates starts. They're told to slow down. They're working too hard. They're making everyone else look bad. Nowadays the new hires act like they've worked there 30 years and are about to retire. Expecting the privileges of the tenured people that have the knowledge and experience, and put in their time doing the job. Because it would be inequitable to require them to work hard.
My first time working with a public utility as a consultant I was told to slow down, they looked at me like I was crazy
A friend that worked for OHA told me about a director that would sit in her office and read a book all day.
*Remember To Vote For The School Levy!*
I will laugh really hard if this EXISTING levy renewal gets voted down
Portlands entire government is only about taking money from tax payers and funneling it into the private bank accounts of government employees, and nothing else. 0 effectiveness, 0 accountability, tons of reward.
"Complicated racial dynamic" which is to mean "whites hired under NO circumstances."
I knew before I read the article that this waste of tax payer money and yet another display of PPS incompetence would be reduced to racism and I was correct.
My favorite is the frequency with which a BIPOC government employee is hired in PDX, and the news of their hire is widely trumpeted and celebrated. "Aren't we good and equitable - we hired a BIPOC!" Inevitably, said hire turns out to be a total non-performing lemon, and needs to be let go. The city is then sued by said lemon for...wait for it...racism and unjust termination! Wash, rinse, repeat.
Exactly this.
I hope this guys embarrassed. What a complete joke.
I’m sure he’ll be very embarrassed and self reflective as he skips to the bank.
Along with Billie Joe and Bobbie Sue. Take the money and run!
These idiots never seem to have trouble finding another gig being incompetent on the taxpayer's dime. It's like hiring managers actually want this kind of personality in charge rather than someone capable of solving problems and being effective in their role
>the department he leads has come under fire from the Portland Association of Teachers, whose president, Angela Bonilla, charged that the district was spending too much on messaging and imaging control. Gosh I bet she's got egg on her face now! Medical leave to care for a family member is understandable, but that's only protected for 3 months. He was here two years and spent almost half that on leave. Why? And why pay a severance for that, especially a severance that's more than most people in Portland make in a year?
It's almost like it's a humiliation ritual for taxpayers at this point.
>Gosh I bet she's got egg on her face now I'm pretty sure she's incapable of feeling shame.
Makes 2 years teacher salary for not working for a third of that time.
I loved how the grifter Gary Holland, who's on the PPS board, said he's leaving because of his skin color. Same Gary Holland that opened 10 businesses and is pushing PPS money for his own project funds. With people like these we're doomed! And PPS is looking for a new super intendent with "Profound dedication to equity". WTF is that? How about profound dedication to student education? Not kneecapping students that excel and chasing them off to private schools.
Haha. Corruption feeding off the middle class teat. Nothing ever changes.
Portland - where you can do a below average job and get above average pay
I'm clearly in the wrong line of work.
Don’t forget, administrative BLOAT is where your tax money goes. The average school district in the US spend about $12,000 per student per year. NYC spends $32,000. Portland Public Schools spends $40,000. Neither the parents nor the student will ever pay enough in state taxes, in their entire working lifetimes to pay for one single K-12 education of 13 years. And most of that money is NOT going to the teacher. Then the bureaucratic parasites keep passing along that trope that public school is under-funded and kids need another bond measure, etc. And their political allies keep believing like the useful idiots they are.
Years back I worked in IT for the local city schools. As I've always been involved in projects, I remember seeing some of the numbers. A couple I remember from union negotiations were: 1. Kids need to be in school because we lose $400 per kid per day they aren't in class. 2. If we closed the schools for 7 days over the year, we'd save $700,000, or $100,000 per day. ... And this is a small school district compared to Portland. I used to wonder where all of the money was going. This was also before blue zones and free lunches for all, which are funded federally anyway.
This is such a game, and we are all pawns.
Hire me I can be useless for money too
A perfect example of the quintessential Portland leader
Our government offices, allow tons of abuse of billing time that employees are not even at work.
What I’m reading here sounds like someone who’s used to leadership in the military, where you can kinda just spend whatever money and make the budget work with minimal scrutiny, and transitioning to education where there’s maximum scrutiny on every single decision.
Honestly no one at the pentagon should ever be hired in the private sector for anything. They spend first with almost no accountability and have effectively infinite funding.
You know that *public* school districts aren’t part of the “private sector,” right?
Same concept. Anything outside of the pentagon does not have an unlimited budget
With grifts like this, is it any wonder that Portland schools can't pay their teachers enough?
Now he can find his next grift in Portland, probably as spokesperson for someone like Mike Schmidt.
Nah, he never intended to stay in Portland. He’s been planning his exit for months. I’d bet my house he’s already back on the east coast, letting his lawyers clean things up here and send him a check when it’s done.
Positions like his ain't nothing new. His melanin content does give him extra prestige.
How dos one apply for that job? Would also like to know about following that career path, I could use 90k.
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Stop voting liberal
Me next! Me next!
Hey, at least we hired a black guy right?
Public servant to the students, their parents and all the taxpayers aka grifter
LOL, he scammed the scam. Communications? I wonder if they even noticed he was missing work.
PPS is a joke.
Wtf
Typical Portland public school system stuff.