Profitable Non-Profits (For Some!)

Well the day has come (and by the way, with the blessing of NJEA)

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Fast-Tracked and Rewritten Bill Could Put Some Public Schools Under Private Management
By John Mooney, January 4, 2012 in Education
First proposed by Gov. Chris Christie and since taken up by South Jersey Democrats, a plan that would open up select public schools to nonprofit or even some limited for-profit management appears poised for passage in the final days of the legislature's lame duck session.
And in the Star Ledger last week:


Now I got to thinking about the “non-profit” and “limited for-profit” qualifiers in the articles. I took the time to investigate the operation of one of the largest “non-profit”, educational entities in the country. Here’s what I discovered:
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Corporate Culture and Big Pay Come to Nonprofit Testing Service
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: November 23, 2002

Buoyed by growing revenue, the Educational Testing Service, the not-for-profit group that produces the SAT, the Advanced Placement exams and the Graduate Record Exams, last year gave one-time bonuses of as much as $366,000 to 15 of its officers.
E.T.S., the world's largest testing organization, has traditionally paid salaries comparable to those at colleges, universities, and groups like the College Board, which administers the tests that the service devises for it.
But under the leadership of Kurt Landgraf, a former chief operating officer of the DuPont Company who became president of E.T.S. two years ago, compensation has soared.
Mr. Landgraf himself received nearly $800,000 for his first 10 months on the job -- about twice as much as Gaston Caperton, who heads the College Board -- and more than all but two college presidents in the nation. One new vice president earned $25,700 for her first five weeks on the job and received a one-time payment of $212,306.
E.T.S. was founded in 1947 as a tax-exempt organization to meet the growing demand for admissions tests for colleges and graduate schools. In large part, the pay changes reflect the service's conversion from an entity staffed mostly by academics to one that is run by executives recruited from the corporate world and that had revenue of more than $700 million in the last fiscal year.
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Sounds pretty profitable for the guys at the top, however for the average employee:
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Average Educational Testing Service Salaries from http://www.simplyhired.com
“The average salary for educational testing service jobs is $53,000. Average educational testing service salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits.”
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It will be interesting to see if the same compensation pattern plays out at the newly created “non-profit” and “limited for profit” schools that are being created by the New Jersey Legislature and Governor.
I think you probably know my guess! What’s yours?