Trustee pay raises out of line

Sometimes I think we spend too much time worrying about how much politicians get paid. At others, I think we need to pay more attention.

For example, in my view, $18,000 a year for school trustees (they raised their own stipends to that Monday night) is way out of whack. A conscientious trustee probably spends, on average, five or six hours a week at the job. (Some would argue that point but it’s about right.) That includes board meetings, a committee meeting here and there, sometimes a school visit, and reading agendas.

That’s about $58 an hour.

New trustee Joan Cowden voted against the increase. But, since the motion was approved, will she accept it? The easiest thing in the world is to vote against something you know is going to pass, and reap double the benefits — appearing to be frugal, but pocketing the extra pay anyway.

It’s not clear at this point what Cowden intends to do but, as a Daily News editorial in tomorrow’s edition suggests, maybe she’d better give the raise to charity.