A recent examination of state salary databases, coupled with media reports, has proven one of my worst nightmares to be true: coaches are among the highest-paid public employees. I’m not talking book coaches, or lifestyle coaches. Of the thousands of state employees, 27 football coaches, 13 basketball coaches and 1 hockey coach rest comfortably atop the heap. These are collegiate coaches, not high school or grade school folks. The study point out that most of the money comes – not from taxes – but revenue the teams’ generate. But, it also highlights that even the most mediocre of coaches can earn millions of dollars, while athletes can suffer near-fatal injuries, and that collegiate sports money rarely ends up in the coffers of the overall university system. Now, I know why the U.S. keeps sliding down the academic pole, while even some “Third World” nations are climbing up. Sad, so sad! Pray for the poor children who are blessed with bigger brains than muscles. Our education system keeps tossing them by the wayside.
Chief Writing Wolf 