Bolden: "I deserve the right to leave when I'm ready"

The Superintendent of the Newark school district, Marion Bolden, has “turned down a buyout proposal made earlier this month” by Gov. Jon Corzine's office. Bolden makes more than $250,000 per year, not counting bonuses and other perks. Her sense of entitlement is amazing

Bolden said she was upset with the attempt to move her out, and vowed to carry out her plans to stay in the district for at least another year and a half to finish several initiatives.

"I deserve the right to leave when I'm ready," she said.

"Test scores are up, the graduation rate has moved from 45 percent to 75 percent. ... I thought things were going well, so I was surprised."

The graduation rate has “improved” because nearly three-quarters of Newark’s students are handed a diploma based on a Special Review Assessment (SRA) rather than by passing the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). Last year, a high school summit convened by then-Gov. Dick Codey concluded that widespread use of the SRA “contributes to the misstatement” of New Jersey’s graduation rate.

The alternative assessment [SRA] “offers a loophole you can drive a truck through to earn a high school diploma,” with “lots of latitude for almost anything to qualify as meeting that standard”.

Taxpayers are the ones who should be upset that the state would even consider offering the school Superintendent a buyout package. Bolden’s contract expired last summer. There should be nothing to “buyout’.

Serving as an appointee of the state, her previous contract ran out this summer, and speculation mounted of a possible change in leadership after the election of Corzine and then Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Last year, Bolden was assured by the state her contract would be renewed, yet that has not happened and she continues to work off her previous contract.

Under state law, if she abides by the contract, the state must give her a year's notice to terminate her employment. For her to leave sooner would require her agreement.

This is just one of many state laws that have been passed to advantage public employees at the expense of taxpayers – from contracts that never end, to benefits that can never be changed. Unbelievable.