I was more than annoyed to read that the top executives at the pennsylvania higher education assistance agency are getting 5-figure bunuses.
The top 5 execs already make at least 50% more than does the state’s top executive, governor ed rendell. They now receive bonuses that are almost as much as the governor’s yearly salary.
This in a year during which the state’s media revealed that pheaa employees, and their legislative handlers, shelled out over $800,000 in public funds to attend “conferences” at which attendees were lavished with in-room bars, golf games, hi-cost appetizers, meals and drinks, massages and facials, shopping trips, and limousine rides from philly to pittsburgh.
Of course pheaa fought the media’s efforts to bring the outlandish spending into the public eye, first claiming that the records were not “public” and then, having failed in that effort, tried the old “trade secret” route.
Not that receipts for $300/bottle wine contain any trade secrets on them.
pheaa lost in court and was forced to produce most of the documents. The dust-up over the receipts resulted in some huge stories earlier this year. The public was pissed.
Then came the stories about how pheaa was trying to collect some $35,000 from one newspaper reporter to cover the cost of producing a couple boxes of documents. Again, the public voiced its outrage. That matter remains unresolved.
That was followed by stories that pheaa was trying to hit the public coffers with legal bills amounting to about $400,000 for the effort to keep public documents about their lavish spending out of the public eye. Again, the public was miffed. This is yet another matter which remains unresolved.
pheaa apparently is too sexy, or arrogant, for their suits. And much too unrepentent.
pheaa is a public agency. But the public employees apparently believe that making more than the governor isn’t enough juice. These pheaa employees apparently think that being paid in excess of $200,000 a year just isn’t enough to make ends meet. Indeed, one of these execs, Kelly Logan, has only been employed with pheaa for 8 months but still receives a bonus in excess of $52,000. The vast majority of state workers – many of whom have worked for the state for decades – do not make anything close to $52,000. And they get no bonus at all. Indeed, the average wage for a mid-state worker is 80% less than what Ms. Logan will see as her bonus check. That is just not right.
A change needs to be made at the top. I say fire the whole sorry lot. And make pheaa recover the misspent funds. Funds which are intended and should only be used to help finance the college educations of well-deserving and needy pennsyltucky students.
pheaa CEO Dickless Willey already is a millionaire many times over. Why does he need a bonus that is in excess of the governor’s yearly salary when high school graduates are receiving letters from pheaa telling them no funds are available? If Willey wants private sector wage benefits, cut him loose and let him do his jig away from tax payer funds.
Send the US Marshalls to recover the illicit bonuses. That should give them something to do besides visiting rundown hovels in Arizona. Oh wait. My bad. Despite someone’s claim to the contrary, they do not do that unless the person being visited is a fugitive from the law (fbi does copyright investigations). The pheaa execs are not fugitives or lawbreakers, just money-grubbing idiots who should be fired.
3 Comments
August 24, 2007 at 1:34 pm
You are making quite a few accusations, without considering the facts.
While pheaa is a public agency, it operates slightly different…bringing in revenue to run its operations your comparison is apples to oranges.
Pheaa returns more than 90% of its annual earnings to students and families in PA…totaling $200 million last year alone, and around $1 billion in the last 10 years.
You won’t find another state agency who can claim that merit.
In keeping competitive in the financial aid industry, pheaa pays their top execs an amount that is comparable to other financial aid organizations, and those levels fall somewhere in the 28th percentile.
These are the facts.
If you take the bonuses – $500 thousand and divide it amongst the 166,000 students who received a state grant last year, you will see the amount is minimal, obviously not enough to impact an education.
August 25, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Welcome to pennsyltucky, tvgrl.
pheaa is a state agency. I find your comparision to private companies to be a tad bit disengenious. And I find your comments to be less than factual.
I’ve read several articles in newspapers from philly, pittsburgh and harrisburg about pheaa just during the past six months. If I add up the funds wasted by pheaa just on the public records matter, the total approaches 2 million dollars.
That is 2 million dollars not available for scholarships and other things for students going into college. No matter how pheaa’s public relations employees spin it, there simply is no justification for misusing public funds in that amount.
August 28, 2007 at 10:18 am
I can’t agree with the media reports. PHEAA has done a lot of good for Pennsylvania.