At the state Department of Education, it could pay to turn down a promotion.
A new DOE analysis found the average salary for 86 top-earning school-level educational officers (mostly principals) is $130,500. That’s $10,000 more than the average pay of the state’s 15 complex area superintendents and some $20,000 more than seven state-level assistant superintendents.
Two principals earn more than schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SALARIES
» State superintendent: Capped by law at $150,000
» Principals, other school-level educational officers: 86 employees highest paid had average pay of $130,500. Highest is $155,800.
» Complex area superintendents: Average pay $120,500; highest is $164,500, lowest is $115,000.
» Assistant superintendents: Average pay $108,400
Note: Figures do not take into account 5 percent wage reductions that all senior managers took this year, along with teachers and other staff.
|
The analysis, presented to the Board of Education last week, is prompting a look at "internal pay equity" for top brass at the DOE, especially for complex area superintendents.
"When you have a principal making substantially more than a CAS (complex area superintendent), that probably is not a policy you want to continue," BOE Chairman Don Horner said at a meeting of the board’s Human Resources Committee. "Ask people to step up for more responsibilities; at some point we’ve got to be equitable in their pay."
The board has directed the department to review pay scales for its complex- and state-level leaders and to come up with a plan for increasing their salaries to reflect expected duties and the department’s organizational hierarchy.
It’s unclear how the higher salaries would be funded, however, given ongoing budget constraints.
And BOE members acknowledge the discussion is a sensitive one, coming as teachers remain in a labor dispute over the state’s decision in July to impose a contract with wage reductions.
But Jim Williams, chairman of the board’s Human Resource Committee, said the BOE is not "talking about pay raises in the traditional sense."
He said at least two to three senior-level state or complex leaders took pay cuts when accepting their current positions.
The DOE’s analysis found that the highest salary among the 86 school-level educational officers was $155,800.
The DOE reviewed the 86 salaries because those educational officers earn at least $120,000 a year. Twelve earn more than $140,000.
Still, officials pointed out that many principals make far less. The salary range for a high school principal is $97,103 to $155,782, according to the DOE.
Statewide there are about 600 school-level educational officers.
The DOE analysis found, meanwhile, that 15 complex area superintendents earn an average of $120,500, and seven state-level assistant superintendents earn an average of $108,400.
The highest pay for a complex area superintendent is $164,500, and the lowest is $115,000. Complex area superintendents oversee all schools in a region that typically consists of two or three high schools and its feeder schools.
The salary figures do not include 5 percent wage reductions that senior management took this year, along with teachers and other staff.
Doug Murata, assistant superintendent of the DOE Office of Human Resources, said the analysis highlights the department’s "concerns about internal equity." Matayoshi’s predecessor, Pat Hamamoto, brought up similar concerns in 2006. She recommended pay raises for administrators when a new contract resulted in nearly one-third of principals earning more than their supervisors at the district level.
It’s unclear exactly how the big differences in pay arose, but the situation is likely linked to salary caps for some positions.
Under state law the superintendent’s pay cannot exceed $150,000 a year. Salaries of deputy, assistant and complex area superintendents are set by the Board of Education but cannot be higher than the superintendent’s, under a state law amended last year. Earlier, assistant and complex area superintendent salaries could not be higher than 80 percent of what the superintendent made. (The complex area superintendent earning $164,500 is temporarily assigned.)
DOE officials and others have long taken issue with the salary cap for the superintendent.
American Association of School Administrators survey data show the average salary for superintendents in districts with more than 25,000 students was about $211,900 in the 2007-08 school year.
The average salary for high school principals was about $102,400 in 2010, ranging from a low of $53,100 to a high of $185,700, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
