$91,304.00 for Recruiting and Advertising…..REALLY?

Yes, that is what MVRCS reportedly spent for recruiting and advertising during the 2008 fiscal year. We mention this as the school continues with their reviews of teachers. Apparently, due to the expense of the Athletic Complex the powers that be are being less than generous to the teachers and staff. Considering that they spend such an exorbitant amount of money to recruit and advertise for new staff one would think they’d try to limit their future recruitment needs. Pay now or pay later. Interestingly enough we haven’t seen this expense on any of the public school budgets and while we have seen other charter schools spending funds on recruitment, we weren’t able to find any that spent anywhere near what MVRCS does each year. Unfortunately, this isn’t just a one time expense but rather approximately what the school spends each year. It is also worth mentioning that the school also employs a HR Director who is making over $80,000.00 per year AND pays a vendor to handle additional HR matters. Certainly makes one stop and wonder if the school is using their funds appropriately and reasonably.


To add insult to injury, we came across the following charter school law (located at http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr1.html?section=07):

1.07: Charter School Staff

Charter school teachers hired after August 10, 2000 must either:

(1) take and pass, within their first year of employment at a charter school, the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure; or

(2) be already certified to teach in Massachusetts.

Regulatory Authority:

603 CMR 1.00: M.G.L. c. 69, § 1B; c. 71, § 89.

One may conclude that the schools recruitment and advertising fees are so exorbitant as a result of having to hire certified teachers and that they are working towards that end with the high turnover rate. Unfortunately we found that that is not the case. It seems that the school has chosen not to follow this law as they go about hiring, firing and losing the many teachers that pass through the schools doors. In reviewing the data of the past few years, the school typically employs between 88-95 teachers yet only 55-60% of them are actually certified. One would think that with the incredibly high number of new teachers they are forced to hire each year that they would be at least moderately increasing the number of certified teachers they employ. While not only is that NOT the case but to further exasperate the issue, they show a decline in the percent of certified teachers they employ since 2008. It seems that they do not feel the need to follow this law any more than they feel the need to follow many of the other laws and regulations that govern them. But then again, why should they, they are Mystic Valley – the school held to very different expectations and standards than other charter schools.