Posting State of Delaware Employee Salaries Online
October 29th, 2007 by Dan GaffneyParents watching the budget problems at Cape Henlopen School District have been asking for the release of the administrator’s salaries and salary histories. While not hiring an adequate number of fourth grade teachers, “how many administrators are making how much?†is an often asked question. The board and the district have not responded so we have had to use FOIA to get the info. Stand by.
This information should be easily accessible and readily available to all taxpayers, and State Senator George Bunting agrees big time! George took my on air rant about Cape a step further, as you can see in the attached pdf of a letter he sent my way.
George Bunting calls on all State employee salaries to be posted on the internet.
Do you state employees agree with making salaries public on the internet?
October 29th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I agree that this information should be available through FOIA, I am not so sure that posting them over the internet is the way to go either. Dan, you are more than aware of the backlash that can result from items being posted on the internet (i.e your qualms with Myspace, et al) so this may be a double edged sword here. Posting them on the internet just so people can read them may be one thing, but posting them so others get up in arms and become vigilantes in how this information is handled is quite another.
Being a resident of one of the controversial manufactured home communities, it is not pretty when the public is allowed to hurl accusations and direct misinformation to residents and does nothing more than breed contempt between the naysayers and those who are satisfied with the satus quo. It amounts to nothing more than schoolyard bullying and name calling from adults who are more childish in their actions than my tween daughter.
I agree that this information should be made available to the public, but disagree wholeheartedly with posting it on the internet. I read the short handwritten note from Senator Bunting, and I am not sure he would also agree that posting on the internet is a viable option. We have seen the damage that can result from anything of personal value that becomes public fodder from the internet. Perhaps there should be a place where the public can do the old fashioned thing, and write a letter requesting this information so it goes from point a to point b without it becoming misrepresented.
Again, just my two cents
October 29th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
The News Journal has posted state employees in the past, without any fallout.
Why post it linked to an employee’s name? Every state employee has a unique emplouee ID - just post the salary with the empl. ID, or just post the job title with the salary.
For the record, I’m a state employee and my yearly base salary is eleventy million dollars.
October 29th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Not only should they post salaries on the government site, as they do in every other State I know of, but each employee should have to disclose what they are spending that salary on :).
October 29th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I definitely do agree with you RonR. After reading the “short handwritten note” from Senator Bunting, I do believe that he does agree with posting on the web also. I cannot see where this would open up “name calling” and “schoolyard bullying” from adults. Also, what in the world does living in a manufactured home have to do with this topic? Just curious……However, what they do with their money should be up to them. They might just want to buy a manufactured home.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Well then they should just post everyone in the state of Delaware’s salary online. I know I wouldn’t want my salary posted online. My relatives would be comparing and then if I found out my co-worker who does no work is making more than me then that wouldn’t help employee moral or the boss any. There are many more reasons like these. However, I say post the salary by pay grade/title which they already do. Therefore, you can find out how much they make. State employee’s especially engineers are way underpaid compared to the private sector. That’s why we can’t get quality people in there. If we need to look at where money is going maybe we should first vote out people like Bunting and others running our government that get nice pay raises when they please. That’s where you start. Then maybe with a little extra tax money when can increase teachers, engineers, etc. salaries to get better quality in our government branches. Making salaries public won’t change a thing.
October 30th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Why not post the pension benefits of elected officials, and state pensions - especially of the politicians that double and triple dipped state jobs…….
October 30th, 2007 at 7:38 am
As a state employee and a taxpayer, I disagree totally with some of the posts above. They are employees of the taxpayers, and their salary is public record. There is no gray area here. If someone works for the government, their salary is public. If the taxpayers are paying the salary, then they have the right to know the amount they are paying.
There is no legal or moral basis for the school board to deny releasing those salaries.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Bucksmom, like I said posting on the internet leads to all this “I know best” attitudes. My point in bringing up manufacturerd home communities was how when information was posted online, both out of context and most of it misinformation, it lead to very heated arguments among residents. That was my point, like posting salaries online and what that person does with that salary would cause. That was the comparison I was making.
This information should be available to the public, like I agreed, however, I disagree with posting John Smiths salary against Mary Jones’ salary and the backlash that would occur. That was also my point. I agree with Lefty and Fabio, there are alternate ways to make this information open to the public without posting on the internet, where bad things happen to good (or bad) people when the information highway is available to be open to interpretation instead of a written document where there can be no misinformation.
I also agree that if you are going to post on the internet, post using salaries against job descriptions, this way no one is named, it is just a general description and posting with state employee ids’ is not fail safe either. And as for what they do with their salaries, why dont those that have suggested that move tell us what they do with their salaries?
I am sure I will hear from you again Bucksmom, post if you wish, but I am moving on from this topic. Good Day!!
October 30th, 2007 at 10:58 am
This cold snap must have frozen my brain…I thought the suggestion of salaries disclosure was TIC. :0 Hmmm…I suppose, no different from the rest of the work-force, State Employees just squander theirs on bills, food, heat, meds, gas. Maybe we can appoint a State financial advisor who could steer us all more appropriately.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I don’t care what they’re making, however, will their salaries be reduced just as the payroll will be cut or will teachers just be loosing their jobs b/c of poor planning on the boards part? reducing the payroll should include board member salaries! Both my husband and I work full time to make ends meet b/c we want the best education for our children and private school seems to be the best there is … cape’s going to loose enrollment unless there is some major revamping done!! Get those kids smaller class rooms, new materials and good GOD, keep the teachers we’ve got!! And if this means REDUCTIONS in the salaries of board members then so be it!!