Top educator to get big raise

A proposed $100,000 increase in the potential salary for the Department of Education’s top position is making its way through the Legislature.

The state House Education Committee voted unanimously last week to advance a bill that would raise the cap on the salary for the school superintendent to $250,000 from $150,000. The current cap was set by lawmakers in 2001.

The statutory cap has kept Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi’s salary at $150,000 the past three years, while at least two school principals earn more than she does.

But the Board of Education, which proposed the legislative increase, has emphasized that the increase is tied to the position, not the current superintendent.

Matayoshi’s current contract ends June 30.

BOE Chairman Don Horner testified in support of House Bill 2257, noting that Hawaii’s salary is "well below national norms."

"The ability to recruit and retain effective educational leadership has a direct impact on the quality of education for approximately 180,000 students within our state," Horner said.

He shared an analysis by the board’s personnel committee of superintendent salaries for the nation’s 15 largest public school districts.

Hawaii, the ninth-largest district, ranked lowest with its $150,000 cap. The next lowest-paying district is Palm Beach County, Fla., which pays its superintendent $225,000 and ranks as the 12th-largest district. Gwinnett County Public Schools in Atlanta, No. 13 in size, pays the highest at $387,934.

The bill next goes before the House Labor and Public Employment and Finance committees.

A companion Senate version of the proposal, SB 2806, is scheduled for a hearing next week before the Senate Education Committee.

A similar attempt to raise the cap was vetoed in 2010 by former Gov. Linda Lingle.

That bill sought a cap increase to $160,000, as well as an annual performance bonus of up to $90,000, potentially raising total pay for the superintendent to $250,000.

In vetoing the measure, Lingle said the move "comes at a time when other state workers are losing their jobs, taking furloughs, or are subject to decreased pay." She added that schools were experiencing funding cuts and parents were being asked to pay more for school transportation and school meals.

Meanwhile, the BOE in September approved pay increases for the Department of Education’s deputy superintendent, six assistant superintendents and 15 complex-area superintendents, retroactive to July 1.

The board is authorized to set the salaries for those positions, but they cannot exceed the superintendent’s pay.

The assistant superintendents — who include the DOE’s chief officers in charge of fiscal services, instruction, strategic reform, human resources and information technology — had been earning between $115,000 and $120,000, and $115,833 on average, according to the DOE. The salaries for those positions were increased to $120,000.

Complex-area superintendents — who oversee two to four school complexes, each including a high school and its surrounding feeder schools — had been earning between $115,000 and $135,564, and $118,973 on average. (Some retained higher salaries from their former jobs as unionized principals.)

The base salaries for those positions increased to $120,000.

Pay for the deputy superintendent post — held by Ronn Nozoe since 2010 — was increased to $140,000 from $120,000.