How much is too much?
So how much do Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier make each year? Stay tuned!
It would be beneficial to the student body to know how much money is spent toward salaries and benefits of high-ranking PSU employees. That benefit could also be extended to the general public, as Penn State receives large contributions of taxpayer's money from the state every year.
While neither taypayers or students have any real say in pay rates at PSU, keeping this information secret only encourages abuse. Open information would allow students or the public to put forth pressure to correct anything deemed popularly unjust.
Now only if PA taxpayers had more say about the overpaid state legislature.
8/14 update - It's not easy to find out how much PA politicians make
Paterno's salary should be public, court rules
The Associated Press
Article source
miami.com anonymous login: momoney@momoney.com pass: bigdogg1 (courtesy bugmenot.com)
CentreDaily.com link (added 8/13)HARRISBURG -- Salary information for Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and other high-ranking university officials are public records and should be released to a reporter, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled today.
The 3-2 decision said the State Employees' Retirement System board correctly decided last year to grant a request by reporter Jan Murphy of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg for documents that reflect years of service, salary and salary history.
Along with Paterno, Murphy's request also covered Richard Althouse, the university's budget officer; Rodney Erickson, an executive vice president and the provost; and Gary Schultz, the senior vice president of finance and business and treasurer.
"Because (the) employees' compensation information is instrumental in calculating a defined benefit to which they have a vested contractual right, and that right unquestionably involves the disbursement of commonwealth funds, the compensation information falls within the definition of public record," Judge Bernard L. McGinley wrote for the majority.
The decision also rejected Penn State's argument that disclosure of the information should not be made because it could compromise personal security.
"Indeed, the salaries of every state employee, including employees of this court, are accessible as public record; so are the salaries of state legislators," McGinley wrote. "Access to this information allows the public to meaningfully evaluate the wisdom and appropriateness of these state appropriations."
In a dissent joined by Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer, Judge Rochelle S. Friedman said Paterno had a reasonable expectation of privacy because when he joined the state retirement system in July 1950, he did not receive notice that his salary could become public.
Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said today that he did not know whether further appeals will be pursued.
Patriot-News Executive Editor David Newhouse said it was unclear when the records will be produced. He said the newspaper was contacting the retirement system to try to get the records immediately.
Paterno said at a fundraising event in May that he would be happy to disclose his own salary but voiced support for the principle behind the university's legal position.
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