Superintendent Salaries, and more…
… WSTBOED? (What Should the Board of Education Do?)
I just read through “7th Annual Salary Survey: A look at compensation for six key positions.” by Alan Dessoff, a writer for District Administration: A magazine for K-12 education leaders. I was putting together commentary regarding the $260,000 salary proposed by the superintendent search firm hired by our board of education. In all actuality, I was trying to figure out how they came to that number but instead found this article and the 2006 annual salary survey. There is some fascinating information tucked within both of these articles and I highly recommend everyone read them.
I admit that I do not have the knowledge or background in knowing what to pay a superintendent of schools and this is exactly why I went looking for information. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how this search firm came to recommend such a hefty (approximately 26% or $67k increase) salary for this districts’ next superintendent. If you look at the information (Source: Educational Research Service) from the 2006 survey, you’ll see that, by community type, the average salary for a large urban district is $187, 924. That’s not too far off the 193k mark (Beth Everitt’s salary) and because we are in the top 50 large urban schools designation (I believe we are currently ranked at #32), it is understandable that the main administrator would be earning close to this amount.
Even if you look at it from the 2007 survey information, and take into consideration the per-student expenditures, the size of enrollment, and the latest information on community type, that still averages out to just over 200k. Still, given our districts’ complexities, the community’s stance on APS, the lack of qualified potential candidates, the amount of superintendent openings across the nation; does this actually warrant an almost 70k increase over the mean salary?
Maybe.
It just seems like an awful lot of money when you take into consideration associate superintendent salaries, principal salaries, and teacher salaries. It feels like sticker-shock and is terribly difficult to condone given the current state of the district and the current state of the districts’ budget. It seems the demand for qualified superintendent candidates is huge which, in any market/business, can create a higher dollar value. Still, I’m not sold on the fact that someone able to command a higher wage is actually going to be the best qualified candidate. I’m betting this will eventually cause the board to lean a little further into a local potential candidate.
According to both surveys, it’s not about the money but rather about the ability to create a positive change and be part of something noble. That is, until NCLB came along and made it so difficult for anyone in the business of education to do their job. NCLB is starting to feel like a tax break for the rich (as prescribed by GW) for those about to become wealthy in the over-300k-superintendent-club. There are comparisons to CEO’s and other business leaders but it’s still a given that by working within a public school system, you just shouldn’t be in it for the money. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah; retail businesses, restaurant businesses, customer service businesses have all been described in that way. Strange comparisons but, then, considering everything I’ve heard about what people want in this position, it truly is about customer (public) service.
So, what am I trying to say? I know it sounds quite wishy-washy but the reality is, we may have to suck it up, get over ourselves, and pay out the nose for a “qualified” candidate or hedge our bets on a potentially less qualified (superintendent experienced) but better adapted to our political environment and “culturally competent” … local.
I know that sounds like settling for the lesser of the two, but, really, you do get what you pay for in this environment. And there are no guarantees that an “outsider” will be effective and a good fit for our community.
It’s a risk and a cost, no matter how you slice it.
IMHO
Superintendents are hired, and compensated accordingly for, their decision making ability.
There are two different kinds of decisions; deliberative and command (decisions which must be made immediately and without an opportunity to involve others).
I would submit that as a superintendent’s ability to assemble a competent management team increases, their own individual importance in the process correspondingly decreases.
If the superintendent has done their job, a district would continue to function flawlessly for some considerable amount of time in the absence of any superintendent at all. In the event of say, an alien abduction.
The ability to make appropriate “command” decisions, is an either or proposition. The decisions are fundamentally the same regardless of the size of a district. An active shooter in a school, is an active shooter in a school. The number of decisions that must be made by the superintendent immediately, amount probably to a half dozen a year, even in a large district.
I think we could get an honest and competent manager for less money.
And that a high salary is not necessarily a guarantee of either.
ched
December 5, 2007
Spend some time at schoolspring.com and you get a good feel for what is being offered today for superintendent positions. It is not unsusual to see six figure offers for small districts. Also, it is open for debate how relevant an average salary for districts larger than 25,000 students is when you are hiring for a 90,000 district. Then factor in that the southwest for some reason commands the highest rates. I agree that paying $260K is no guarantee that the hire will be worth it. But by offering $260 it increases the odds that the right person will apply. (Those odds may have been substantially decreased when insider candidate Sink was given the interim job.)
I believe what is being overlooked is that of the three main educational institutions in this area, APS,CNM,and UNM, which has the most important mission? If APS doesn’t do its job, CNM and UNM have no value for local kids. Why do we insist on denegrating the value of the APS Superintendent who is supposed to come to work prepared to run the 33rd largest school district in the nation? Yes it is a big number and it is a big job.
Hunter
December 9, 2007