Baltimore's new schools chief is earning a base salary of $230,000 and has the opportunity to earn tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses, according to a copy of his contract provided to The Sun yesterday.
The salary for Andres Alonso is slightly more than his predecessors received but still less than superintendents earn in Montgomery, Prince George's, Baltimore and Charles counties.
Alonso will be entitled to a host of perks similar to those in contracts for previous city schools CEOs. The school board will contribute 35 percent of his salary - or $80,500 in the coming year - to "supplemental income programs," such as retirement funds.
The school board can also give Alonso bonuses of up to $30,000 a year: $12,000 for improvements in academic performance, $12,000 for improvements in management efficiencies, and $6,000 for the implementation of innovative programs. By Oct. 1, Alonso must submit to the board a list of his goals, on which he will be evaluated.
If Alonso earns all the bonuses for which he is eligible, his compensation package for the coming school year will be worth $340,500. He will also receive up to $7,000 in moving expenses as he relocates to Baltimore from New York City, where he previously served as deputy chancellor in the nation's largest school system and earned $214,000.
For each year of the contract, which runs through June 2011, Alonso will receive a raise of at least $10,000. The school board can give him additional raises at any time.
He will be provided with a school system car and cell phone, plus a fax machine and computer to use at home for business purposes. Though Alonso's contract does not explicitly state it, the system also assigns a driver to the CEO.
Still, Alonso's compensation appears to be in line with what leaders of other big school systems earn. Baltimore has the fourth-largest school system in the state and is widely seen as the most troubled. Alonso's salary will be the fifth-highest among Maryland superintendents.
City school board Chairman Brian D. Morris said the contract demonstrates that Alonso's desire to come to Baltimore "was not about opening up the vaults."
"Relatively speaking, he's the best bargain in the country for what he's bringing to the organization," Morris said.
Baltimore County Superintendent Joe A. Hairston earned a base salary of $262,500 last year, according to state documents. Superintendents in Anne Arundel and Howard counties earned slightly less than what Alonso is due to make: Arundel's Kevin Maxwell earned $225,000, while Howard's Sydney L. Cousin made $220,442.
In Washington this week, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty caused a stir when he proposed paying his new schools chancellor, Michelle A. Rhee, a $275,000 salary, plus a $41,250 signing bonus. The Washington Post reported this week that Rhee will be the highest-paid schools chief in the metropolitan area if the District of Columbia city council approves her appointment.
The D.C. schools have 55,000 students, compared with 82,000 students in Baltimore.
Alonso's contract went into effect Sunday, and he reported for his first day of work Monday.
He has spent much of the week meeting with members of his executive-level staff. Those who have met with him say a top priority seems to be identifying successful teachers or programs within failing schools, and successful principals in schools with challenging student populations. He has repeatedly said he is interested in trying to replicate pockets of success and giving principals more autonomy.
Alonso took over for interim CEO Charlene Cooper Boston, whose base salary was $212,000. Boston was in her position for a year after CEO Bonnie Copeland stepped down. Copeland earned $202,000 in the 2005-2006 academic year.
Both Copeland and Boston received bonuses and "supplemental income" contributions comparable to Alonso's. Alonso's life insurance policy has a higher payout than his predecessors' did: $500,000 for a beneficiary if he dies while CEO, compared with $50,000 for Boston and $200,000 for Copeland.
If the school board decides to fire Alonso during the term of his contract, it will pay him for six months or until the end of the academic year, whichever is less.
sara.neufeld@baltsun.com
Read The Sun education blog at www.baltimoresun.com/classroom.