Often I hear interviews where someone is explaining a request/demand for more money by saying something like, "We have to pay more if we want the best people." Almost always the existing salary is already in six figures. New York State judges and school superintendents are two that I have heard most recently. It seems to me that offering more money attracts the greediest people, not necessarily the best.
In 2010, for example, a commission was created in New York State to decide on judicial compensation - taking that responsibility out of the hands of the state legislature. Salaries had been frozen at $136,700 since 1999 - not a bad wage even in today's economy.
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman commented -
"... we will be able to have, like other professions, the ability to attract and retain the highest quality judges to the bench.”
That's the mentality I'm talking about. The best (whatever that word means) is equated to money. So do we measure a judge's worth in dollars, or in quality of decisions? Is that a valid measure for anyone's worth?
A good friend, with a masters degree in organizational development and an excellent job at IBM, decided to join the Peace Corps. She wound up in Jacmel, Haiti for her assignment and, when her tour was up, stayed for another five years. She spear-headed the formation of an art education program for children, that also provided studio space for local artists and musicians. She formed a not-for-profit foundation in the US that provided funding and helped find markets for the artists. All this while living off her savings and donations. When she felt that her goals were met in Haiti, she returned to the US with an orphaned Haitian girl she had adopted. She now free-lances from her small home in Massachusetts, where her daughter attends the local public school.
Is she one of the best people?
A good friend, with a masters degree in organizational development and an excellent job at IBM, decided to join the Peace Corps. She wound up in Jacmel, Haiti for her assignment and, when her tour was up, stayed for another five years. She spear-headed the formation of an art education program for children, that also provided studio space for local artists and musicians. She formed a not-for-profit foundation in the US that provided funding and helped find markets for the artists. All this while living off her savings and donations. When she felt that her goals were met in Haiti, she returned to the US with an orphaned Haitian girl she had adopted. She now free-lances from her small home in Massachusetts, where her daughter attends the local public school.
Is she one of the best people?
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Comments are always from "anonymous". Often I can identify the author by the content of the comment, but that much cogitation makes my 80 year-old brain tired. Please help out an old man and identify yourself within the text of the comment. Thanks for the comments whether or not you ID yourself. Tom