MORE ABOUT THE $1 MILLION DECISION

The Hawken School Board of Trustees approve Scott Looney's salary every year. That goup of people include the following:

• Paul N. Harris, Chair
• Charles P. Cooley, Immediate Past Chair
• Samuel P. Gerace, Vice Chair
• Blair K. Haas, Vice Chair
• Steven M. Ross, Vice Chair
• Alan D. Rosskamm, Vice Chair
• Andrew D. Ross, Treasurer
• Kendra C. Howley, Secretary 

Additionally, trustees for Hawken School include:

• Himanshu S. Amin
• Nathan E. Baker 
• Eric H. Beck  
• Daniel Brown
• Tamara Durn Doody
• Julie A. Edgar
• Michael Graham
• Dan F. Grajzl 
• Blake C. Kleinman 
• John LeMay
• Brinton C. Lincoln 
• James D. Lincoln 
• Rupal Malani
• Julie Mangini 
• Angela McDonald-Fisher
• Sundaram Nagarajan
• Summer Paris
• Lou Salza
• Lauren B. Spilman
• David Sylvan
• Dominic Visconsi, Jr. 
• Meredith Smith Weil 

  The Mastery Transcript Consortium® (MTC) was born from the Hawken School under principal Scott Looney, who saw the most basic of all high school documents—the transcript—as a deterrent in the way of high school innovation. He believed there could be a better way of preparing high school students for the world ahead and of presenting them to colleges and employers in a manner that reflects the unique skills, strengths, and interests of each learner. Looney helped create MTC with Doris Korda, who developed Hawken School’s globally recognized entrepreneurial studies program. She also designed the Mastery School of Hawken’s curriculum, assessment model and teaching methods. It appears Hawken School is a client of MTC, as are other connected organizations, and Looney still has ties to the company. 

Looney's side hustle has its critics by the way, who say the program actually helps mediocre wealthy kids (who go to schools like Hawken) and hurts poorer high-achieving students. 

The Hawken School Board of Trustees, a non-profit organization, gave Scott Looney a $600,000 loan. It appears the $600,000 loan to Scott Looney was granted by the Board in 2008 (as tax filings before that time contain limited information). Of the $600,000 loan, no payments were made until 2022. Additionally, no interest appears to have been accrued on the loan (though that cannot be confirmed due to the limited data on the tax filing). Scoot Looney has benefited from a housing loan of $600,000 from a non-profit for 14 years with no payments made during that time.

 Sadly, the photos above are from actual high schools across the country in which teens face horrifying violence and inadequate education and support. This happens right down the road from Hawken, too.   

As noted in a Forbes article examining non-profit leadership salaries, the writer surmised that a $1 million salary is “too much for a nonprofit.” The article elaborated, “It is not just a general sentiment. Lawmakers in numerous states have tried to introduce legislation that would cap leadership salaries at nonprofit organizations that receive public funding. So far, all of these bills have failed to gain legislative approval, though the battle is not over. These proposed regulations, say the lawmakers, would allow state governments to ensure the benefits that come from being a non-profit are utilized to serve the public. The opinions of these lawmakers echo those of many people. If you are going to work at a nonprofit, you should have as your primary motivation the public good. It is reasonable to think that you would accept less compensation in order to move more money into the hands of those who need it."

This couldn’t be more true than in our educational system where so many kids could benefit from Scott Looney's $1 million salary.