I provide for my retirement by socking away a significant portion of the income left to me after rendering unto federal, state and local Caesars.

I need to be OUSD Superintendent Thomas Godley. He's got it going.  As the invaluable Orange Net News reported earlier this week, Godley is proposing to his Board of Trustees a "golden handshake" package that includes a 6%-6.5% "enhanced retirement benefit" to those who retire  June 30, 2008 and who've been with OUSD for 5 years or more.

Coincidentally, that's about the the time Godley hits the 5-year mark. Funny how things work out when you're the boss.

The timing of the extra lifetime pension spike is propitious. Godley received a 4.75% retroactive raise in June, 2006. He got another increase in August 2007 that, according to ONN, "put his salary over $242,000 annually and included an unprecedented automatic 2% annual longevity raise, and a yearly $2500.00 bonus for having his doctoral degree, in addition that pay hike was also retroactive."

Four months later in December 2007, the Board of Trustees majority, who've never met a Godley recommendation they didn't like, approved a 3.5% administrators pay hike, bumping Godley pay -- and ultimately, pension -- again. As ONN related, "That retroactive pay hike of 3.5% went to July 2007, one month before the August retroactive pay hike."

ONN continues:

Then at the January 17th, 2008 meeting, Godley asked the OUSD Board to approve another .25% retroactive raise for the district administrators. The Godley Majority again voted to grant the raise. Following that raise at the last Board meeting Godley announced his retirement, now at this Thursday's meeting the OUSD Administration will ask for the 6-6.5% "golden handshake" plan for this year's retirees which if approved will give Godley another 6-6.5% lifetime pay hike for only five years of service to the Orange Unified School District.

Sensing a pattern?

OUSD schools must be performing wonderfully if the district's generalissimo is going to be rewarded so generously by the Board of Trustees. And rest assured, the 5-member majority will go along with Godley's wishes.

What a racket.

The rationale behind this golden handshake is long-term savings because higher-paid administrators and teachers retire now, and are replaced by administrators and teachers who make less.

Here's an cost-savings idea: why don't we take OUSD's per-pupil spending and convert it into individual scholarships  that OUSD students can use to attend the school of their choice, public or private? Denied their captive audiences, OUSD schools would then have to compete with each other and private schools to attract students. Since parents generally want their children to get a good education, good schools will have the competitive advantage in  attracting students and their  scholarship money -- creating a huge incentive to provide a better education.

Somehow, I think such competition will be far more effective as generating the cost-savings Godley and his Board Majority seek. And somehow, I doubt they value cost-savings more than preserving the present system, regardless of how dysfunctional it is.

Note to the inevitable angry liberal commenter(s): I realize OUSD can't set up it's own voucher system (at least, I think it can't). I'm making a point about the ultimate futility of our broken public school system.