Terry Goodin: Not a Good Choice for Indiana
On Tuesday, if you live in Indiana, you will have to decide whether or not to vote for Jessica McCormick, the Democratic nominee for Governor. You will also be voting for Terry Goodin, her running mate for Lt. Governor. Before you decide to make him the second highest public servant in the state, there is something you should know about his “service” to the people of Indiana.
Let’s back up to the year 2000. That is the year that Terry joined the Indiana state legislature. At the same time, he was serving as the superintendent for Crothersville Community Schools. That double duty continued for the next 20 years.
It may sound like Terry was really working to serve the people of his community. But let’s dig a little deeper. The Indiana Gateway keeps a record of the salaries received by all public employees. It only goes back to 2012, but that will work for our purposes. Below is a table of what he was paid for his roles from 2012-2020.
It is fair for a person to be paid for the time they give, but there are two important things to remember here. One, Goodin had to take time off from his job as superintendent in order to serve in the legislature. In even numbered years, they met from January until March. In odd years, they met from January until April. Goodin did not take a deduction in his salary for the time that he was in the capitol instead of his school office. In just 9 years, we see him double dipping to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars.
He did this for 20 years!
Two, Crothersville is a very small school district: less than 500 students. By comparison, Madison Consolidated Schools, a district 35 miles away with 2,700 students, was paying their superintendent $132,000 in 2020 - $21,000 less! At the same time, Madison pays their teachers more than Crothersville.
What we see here is Gooding taking money from a small, rural school district for time that he is not working. Not only is he taking money from a district that has little, he is taking more than surrounding administrators while paying his teachers less!
We have to ask, were his skills worth that premium salary? In 2018 - near the end of Goodin’s leadership - Crothersville’s school grade was abysmal. The elementary got an F, and the Jr/Sr High scored a C.
Then, in the middle of a school year, he suddenly announced his retirement, effective January 31, 2022. That same year, he was appointed by President Biden to a position in the USDA. It would be natural to assume that a person retiring in January would not receive much of their annual salary. But this is where the real fleecing begins. Here is the pay table for Goodin for 2022 and 2023.
What did Terry Goodin do for the 500 kids in Crothersville schools for those two years that was worth $249,504? He was working for the USDA. He took a quarter of a million dollars from the students and teachers of Crothersville while getting paid a handsome salary for his full time federal job. Did he need that money? Did he deserve that money? Do school districts buy out your contract because you are doing a great job?
Jennifer McCormick described Goodin as "a life-long public servant and has both the experience and the heart to serve Hoosiers." While he was getting paid $284,168 from your federal taxes, he was also greedily taking all he could from a small Indiana town. Is that the “heart to serve” we are looking for? Is his 20+ years of double dipping from public coffers the experience that we need in office?
Personally, I would like to quit paying his salary with my taxes.
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