Iowa City superintendent’s consulting detailed

IOWA CITY - Iowa City Superintendent Stephen Murley planned to take 13 days off in the 2015-2016 school year to do consulting work for two educational companies and one association, according to a letter he sent school board leaders in July.

Murley's pay for these outside activities ranged from $23 an hour as a consultant for the Education Research and Development Institute to $39 an hour as a master teacher for the Atlantic Research Partners and an instructor for the American Association of School Administrators.

If he worked eight hours a day for these organizations, Murley would earn an extra $3,600 for consulting and instruction.

'I support the success of superintendents in their first one to five years of the superintendency,” Murley wrote to School Board President Chris Lynch and Vice President Brian Kirschling about his role with the association. 'The program focuses on sharpening the skills that successful superintendents acknowledge are needed to thrive on the job.”

Lynch released on Monday three letters Murley had written since 2013 acknowledging 'external engagement” beyond the Iowa City Community School District, which hired Murley in 2010.

Letters written April 2, 2013, and Jan. 1 say Murley was working for SUPES Academy as a master teacher and mentor for principals in the Chicago area. Murley estimated he would spent eight days out of the district in 2014-2015 working for SUPES at $44 an hour.

Company leaders were indicted in October as part of an alleged kickback scheme out of Chicago Public Schools. Murley has said he and other superintendents serving as teachers and mentors for the company had no knowledge of the scheme.

Murley's contract with the ICCSD allows him 10 days of discretionary leave for consulting or other professional activities. The school board president is supposed to sign off on leave and approve, in advance, 'employment, consultant service or other activity for which a salary, fee or honorarium is paid”.

For Murley's 13 days of non-district work in 2015-2016, he is using three days of vacation on top of his discretionary leave, he said in an email Monday.

Murley's largest non-district commitment, at six days in 2015-2016, is to the American Association of School Administrators, now called the School Superintendents Association, based in Alexandria, VA. He serves as an instructor in the association's National Superintendent Certification Program, the letter states.

Murley planned to spend four days this year with Atlantic Research Partners, based in Jacksonville, Fla. and Chicago. The company, led by EdisonLearning founder Joseph Wise, involves nine companies that provide testing, technology and other school aids.

Murley said he would spend three days with the Education Research and Development Institute, an Illinois company that unites school leaders with corporations to talk about desired features of educational products and services.

Murley also listed a consulting relationship with McPherson & Jacobson, an Omaha-based educational recruitment firm, but said he has provided no services to that group since he moved to Iowa.

'They are very complementary activities and keep Steve current and relevant about his job,” Lynch said about Murley's non-district activities. 'It's not about the money.”

Other school board members have grumbled about Murley's time away from the district. The board will discuss Murley's discretionary leave Nov. 24.