Last Saturday the Oregonian reported that Vicki Phillips, superintendent of the Portland Public Schools, wished to renegotiate the severance provisions of the district's contract with Steve Goldschmidt. His current contract requires the school district to pay him 24 months' salary and benefits (I'm slightly oversimplifying), worth about $357,000, if the district fires him without cause. Mr. Goldschmidt's generous contract is a legacy from Ben Canada's tenure as head of PPS, agreed to by Dr. Canada shortly before he himself got a large check when booted from the district.
I don't know how well Mr. Goldschmidt does his job, but I can't help thinking that when the school district agreed to this generous severance provision, and earlier when it agreed to pay him a princely sum as a consultant ($307,000 for 16 months' work, equal to about $228,000 per year), it thought it was getting added value in the form of Mr. Goldschmidt's connections to the local nomenklatura, including his brother, who was once governor. The value of those connections took a plunge earlier this year.
Isaac's prediction: by the end of 2005 Mr. Goldschmidt will have parted ways with the school district.