Chess program 'rooks' schools
Big salaries, big council funding
By HEATHER HADDON and CANDICE M. GIOVE
Last Updated: 2:13 AM, July 31, 2011
Posted: 1:54 AM, July 31, 2011
They're the kings and queens of City Council cash.
An arsenal of 18 City Council members forked over $266,214 in member items to the nonprofit group Chess-in-the-Schools in the city budget adopted last month -- one of the largest infusions of council cash to any single nonprofit.
The program has reeled in $2,172,357 in taxpayer dollars from the city and state since 2006, according to budget records.
"They are very vocal and driven. The pushier you are, the more you get," said one City Hall insider.
Despite the taxpayer largesse, the charity forced cash-strapped schools to ante up more than $100,000 to continue chess lessons for third- and sixth-graders, tax documents show.
Marley Kaplan, the group's executive director, runs the program, which teaches kids from 50 poor city schools how to play chess.
But her annual pay has since ballooned to $226,800 -- more than the $213,000 earned by Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott. Kaplan says it's fair compensation because she performs three jobs, those of executive director, CFO and director of development.
The vice president of programs pulled down $131,000 last year, and the VP of administration made $95,870, according to tax filings. The group's 15 chess instructors start at $25 an hour and are directly supervised by four administrators.
The group leases half a floor in the Garment District for $240,000 a year, according to their tax filings. The space includes a patio, new computers and plenty of unneeded space, according to former instructor Chris Kerrigan.
"These offices are palatial," said Kerrigan, who says he was fired after complaining about the bureaucracy.
In 2009, the program -- which had been free for 25 years -- started charging schools $2,500 each to participate, citing hard economic times.
It collected $103,500 in fees from schools last year, records show; two schools had to drop out.
Kaplan said the group eliminated six administrators since 2008 and negotiated a better deal on their lease, saving $423,700 a year.
They scaled back the number of school sites so they could expand their tournament program and teach other schools how to duplicate the chess lessons, she added. More than 100 schools are on the waiting list.
"We've reviewed every possible place to reduce expenses and add revenue," she said.
Source: http://www.nypost.com
