Camden schools get new leader

The Camden school board last night agreed to pay new superintendent Bessie Young $220,000 a year. At the same time, the board decided to cut 190 positions because of fiscal woes.

After meeting behind closed doors for about four hours, the board overwhelmingly approved both measures, with two members absent.

District officials have said the job cuts were needed to help plug a $9.5 million budget deficit. Teachers, administrators and support staff are among those affected. Notices were sent last month to 550 of the nearly 4,000 district employees warning them that their jobs could be eliminated.

The three-year contract approved by the board makes Young, who was a regional superintendent in the Philadelphia School District, among the highest-paid schools chiefs in the region.

Her predecessor, Annette D. Knox, was paid $185,000 a year. Knox stepped down in June 2006 amid a state criminal investigation into the Camden district's spending practices, including her bonuses, and a test-score rigging scandal.

Gov. Corzine, who has veto authority over the Camden board's actions, must approve Young's contract. Last year, he rejected a lucrative bonus-laden pact that would have paid Knox $208,000 annually.

Last year, the average annual salary for superintendents nationally was $116,000, but nearly $185,000 for those working in larger districts, according to the American Association of School Administrators. In the region, the averages were $155,039 in Pennsylvania and $123,660 in New Jersey, according to data from education departments in both states.

The highest salary in the region this year went to Paul Vallas, the departing Philadelphia schools chief executive officer who was paid $250,000.

After a national search, Young was the board's unanimous choice, becoming the second woman and outsider to run South Jersey's largest school system. She is scheduled to begin the second week in July. At a candidates forum last month, Young called on Camden parents "to galvanize together" to uplift the district of nearly 16,000 students.

Young, 57, lives in Williamstown in Gloucester County. She met privately with the board last night prior to the vote.

She began her career in 1972 as a teacher in the Philadelphia School District. During her 35-year career, Young has been an assistant principal and high school principal in Philadelphia schools.

As a regional superintendent, she conducted an internal investigation into a grade-changing scandal at William Penn High that found a principal justified in overturing failing grades of some students but in violation of district procedures.

In Camden, Young will oversee a $311 million annual budget. She inherits a district that has been rocked by scandal and controversy. Plagued by low test scores and violence for years, Camden is under state oversight, a step away from a state takeover.

The state Attorney General's Office launched a criminal probe in June 2006 into Camden's spending practices and allegations of grade-fixing and test-score rigging.

The board bought out Knox's contract with a $199,00 settlement after learning that she received $17,500 in bonuses without board approval or knowledge.

Interim administrators have been in charge of the district while the board sought a superintendent.

In May, the district sent warning notices to all employees hired in the last two years that their jobs could be eliminated. As one of New Jersey's 31 special-needs district, Camden has appealed to the state for additional aid. That request is pending.