Even with a 25-percent reduction, Richmond County School Superintendent Charles Larke's pay is exorbitant. For sure, Richmond County schools have improved under his leadership, but there is no reason that he or anyone in that position should be paid that kind of money.
The cost of living in Augusta does not warrant it, and the quality of the Richmond County school system surely doesn't warrant it. Fewer than 60 percent of students graduate, which is appalling. SAT scores are improving, but still below the national average.
Dr. Larke has taken positive initiatives on bold projects such as the new International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Richmond Academy and the sales-tax-funded school renovations. However, with the inflated salary of Dr. Larke, and the millions spent on unnecessary high school stadiums, there could actually be books, computers and science equipment in those nice, new schools.
I was lucky enough to benefit from the new ARC stadium, but the money would have been better spent to make sure that we had books in all of our classes - in many classes, we did not have books we could take home and, in some, no books at all. Also, we lacked functional computers and science equipment - we were limited to projects such as making Kool-Aid in advanced science classes. The children and taxpayers of Richmond County deserve better.
J.T. Batson
Stanford, Calif.
(Editor's note: The writer, a 2001 graduate of the Academy of Richmond County, is a senior political science major at Stanford University.)
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