Board to Be Urged to Give Janey Bonus

A D.C. Board of Education member said he and other colleagues leading the effort to evaluate Superintendent Clifford B. Janey will recommend today that Janey receive a bonus of nearly $25,000 as part of his annual performance review.

Janey, who earns $250,000 a year, is the highest-paid official in the District.

William Lockridge (District 4) said yesterday that he and two other members of the school board committee that led the evaluation of Janey will recommend that the board vote to pay him a bonus close to $25,000, the amount he received as a bonus last year. Lockridge declined to specify the amount of the proposed bonus or the overall rating Janey received, saying board members agreed not to publicly discuss the matter until today.

The board is considering the bonus after a year in which the number of failing schools rose from 80 to 118, the U.S. Department of Education declared the system a "high risk" for misusing federal funds, enrollment declined from 62,000 to 58,000, Congress pushed the system to relinquish its state powers, and Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty questioned Janey's leadership as he talked of having his administration take over city schools.

Fenty said in a statement yesterday that the school board "has the sole authority to evaluate Superintendent Janey and compensate him based on its evaluation criteria."

Lockridge said Janey has met the board's expectations in hiring 34 new principals, administering a tough new student assessment, introducing rigorous science and social studies standards and devising a plan for renovating more than 100 crumbling school buildings.

"Dr. Janey deserves a bonus close to what he got last year. . . . Since last year, the board put some goals in place and the superintendent did a fairly good job of meeting all the goals," said Lockridge, co-chairman of the evaluation committee. Last year, Lockridge voted against paying Janey a bonus. Board members are expected to review and vote on the recommendation at a 5 p.m. meeting today.

"Did test scores rise? No. That's the only blemish," he added, attributing the scores to the tougher test.

Some education activists said they were not opposed to the board offering a bonus to Janey. But they added that it should not signal that all is well in the system.

"He's done some good things, such as the [academic] standards and the master education plan," said Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund, which studies facilities issues.

"The big question is: Has the superintendent built confidence in the D.C. public schools among parents as well as the broader community?" she added. "He hasn't been able to do that, which is why students are still leaving and why the debate about control has resurfaced."

The contract Janey signed when he was hired in September 2004 requires the board to evaluate him every September. The evaluation was delayed because of the effort in the fall to complete the master facilities plan, a 1,000-page document outlining the schedule for renovating the schools, and the school board elections, Lockridge said.

The contract also gives the board the option of paying Janey a bonus of as much as $50,000, which represents 20 percent of his salary.

In addition to paying Janey a $25,000 bonus last year, the board extended his three-year contract by one year, saying he had met -- but not exceeded -- expectations.

School board member Robin B. Martin, the other chairman of the superintendent's evaluation committee, declined to comment on whether Janey would be offered a bonus. Board member Jeff Smith (District 1), the third member of the committee, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Martin said the board "raised the bar" in its evaluation of Janey this year. "All the measures we used were markedly higher than the year before -- all across the board," he said.

Board members used a 25-page form that evaluated Janey on key tasks, including whether he administered the new student assessment, increased the percentage of students performing at the proficient level in math and reading, increased the high school graduation rate and introduced new science and social studies standards.

In each area, Janey received a rating of not meeting the standard, partially meeting the standard, meeting the standard or exceeding expectations.