The Baltimore Sun did a great thing when they published the salaries of city school employees. Now the tax payers who fund this bureaucratic monster can see where their money is REALLY going.
For years we have known that former Councilwoman Belinda Conaway worked for “the city school system”, but I never heard what she really did there. I still do not understand what a “109275 Staff Associate/12mth” does, but I do know that in 2009 between her city council job and her school job that she was paid a grand total of $133,580! One hundred and thirty-three thousand five-hundred and eighty TAX PAYER DOLLARS! Conaway started working for the city school system exactly twenty years ago today according to this following chart. One can only imagine how much money she has made there over the last twenty years:
| Name | Fiscal year of salary* | Listed date of hire | Title | Salary or Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conaway, Belinda K | 2011 | 1992-02-03 |
109275 Staff Associate/12mth
|
$78,102
|
$78,102
|
| Conaway, Belinda K | 2010 | 1992-02-03 |
109275 Staff Associate/12mth
|
$77,329
|
$77,329
|
| Conaway, Belinda K | 2009 | 1992-02-03 |
109275 Staff Associate/12mth
|
$75,813
|
$75,813
|
| Conaway, Belinda K | 2008 | 1992-02-03 |
109275 Staff Associate/12mth
|
$74,328
|
$74,328
|
| Name | Fiscal Year | Hired on | Title | Salary | Overtime | Total | Department | % of income in overtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conaway, Belinda K | 2009 | 2004-12-09 | Council Member |
58,425
|
0
|
57,767
|
City Council | 0 |
A little research dug up this link which tells us that:
“Completed plans should be emailed to Belinda Conaway in the Office of Attendance and Truancy (bconaway@bcps.k12..md.us) no later than September 30, 2011.”
That information leads me to believe that at the very least in 2011 Belinda Conaway was working in the “Office of Attendance and Truancy”. She was paid $77,329 by the school system in 2011.
Let us explore the Office of Attendance and Truancy. It appears to be part the larger Department of Safety & Student Support Services. Look closely at that link and you will see that Dr. Andrey Bundley and Marshall T. Goodwin also work in that department. Goodwin is a former delegate who ran against Conaway in the 7th district in 2007 until he suddenly dropped out of the race. Dr. Andrey Bundley has twice ran for mayor of Baltimore.
Here is a 2007 quote from the Sun (I made the important part bold):
“The Baltimore school board has named a former state delegate who was running for a seat on the City Council as its new school police chief. Marshall “Toby” Goodwin, 50, has withdrawn from the 7th District council race and is urging voters to support the incumbent, Councilwoman Belinda K. Conaway. Conaway also works for the city school system, as a teacher and counselor, though she is currently on leave.”
| Name | Fiscal year of salary* | Listed date of hire | Title | Salary or Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodwin, Marshall T | 2008 | 2007-08-29 |
102625 Director – School Police
|
$123,786
|
$123,786
|
| Goodwin, Marshall T | 2009 | 2007-08-29 |
102625 Director – School Police
|
$123,786
|
$123,786
|
| Goodwin, Marshall T | 2010 | 2007-08-29 |
102625 Director – School Police
|
$123,786
|
$123,786
|
| Goodwin, Marshall T | 2011 | 2007-08-29 |
102625 Director – School Police
|
$123,786
|
$123,786
|
What a coincidence! Goodwin drops out of the race to take a job with a $123,786 yearly salary (since 2008 he has been paid a grand total of $495,144 tax payer dollars!) that happens to be in the school system where the incumbent Conaway works. He then endorses Conaway a few days before the election. It appears that Conaway now works in the same department as Goodwin (Department of Safety & Student Support Services). This department just happens to also employ former mayoral candidate Dr. Andrey Bundley who has been paid $493,894 tax payer dollars since 2008.
| Name | Fiscal year of salary* | Listed date of hire | Title | Salary or Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bundley, Andrey L | 2008 | 1993-02-02 |
102655 Director II
|
$126,436
|
$126,436
|
| Bundley, Andrey L | 2010 | 1993-02-02 |
102655 Director II
|
$123,292
|
$123,292
|
| Bundley, Andrey L | 2011 | 1993-02-02 |
102655 Director II
|
$123,292
|
$123,292
|
| Bundley, Andrey L | 2009 | 1993-02-02 |
102655 Director II
|
$120,874
|
$120,874
|
|
493,894
Grand Total (from selected search parameters) |
Let us take a look at what other Department of Safety & Student Support Services employees make:
Office of Attendance and Truancy Coordinator Dr. Tanya Crawford Williams
| Name | Fiscal year of salary* | Listed date of hire | Title | Salary or Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawford, Tanya M | 2011 | 2002-08-28 |
102365 Coordinator
|
$91,641
|
$91,641
|
| Crawford, Tanya M | 2010 | 2002-08-28 |
102365 Coordinator
|
$87,859
|
$87,859
|
| Crawford, Tanya M | 2009 | 2002-08-28 |
102365 Coordinator
|
$86,136
|
$86,136
|
| Crawford, Tanya M | 2008 | 2002-08-28 |
109275 Staff Associate/12mth
|
$79,246
|
$79,246
|
Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS)- Eric Bandzak:
| Name | Fiscal year of salary* | Listed date of hire | Title | Salary or Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandzak, Erik C | 2011 | 2007-06-23 |
109947 Student Support Liaison
|
$85,455
|
$85,455
|
So all of this information brings up a lot of questions. Does Belinda Conaway work all 12 months of the year and why does the Office of Attendance and Truancy need to be staffed during the summer? Conaways sure are experts in Truancy, Frank Sr. does a radio show every Friday from 10AM to noon and he is supposed to be Clerk of the Court (Belinda often calls the show). What kind of pensions are all these overpaid employees going to get? Do “loser” politicians get rewarded with extremely high paying questionable jobs in the Department of Safety and Student Support Services? Do you feel that the city school 2011 payroll of $602,530,499 is high and could be better allocated? Do we really need a “Department of Safety” in the school system especially one with so many people making over $100,000 a year? The school system had 438 employees who made over $100,000 a year in 2011. How much money did you make in 2011?
The next time you hear the standard “It’s for the children” argument, please think of this article.
