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Some NY School Superintendents Make More Money Than the Governor

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by hotballa, Nov 14, 2012.

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hotballa Contributing Member

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Sigh, reading stuff like this depresses me since I live in this state where we pay the highest taxes. I mean really, a half mil for a superintendent? The NYC super gets paid less than superintendents of suburban school districts that have like less than 5% of the schoolkids. And people wonder why their property taxes are 11k a year for a 50X100 property. Just crazy.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/schools_half_mil_honchos_sYv9UcJQ7vhDGKBrljw9CO

Suburban NY school districts paying $500,000-plus to superintendents

By ERIK KRISS Bureau Chief
Last Updated: 2:50 AM, November 14, 2012
Posted: 1:24 AM, November 14, 2012

ALBANY — It’s good work if you can get it.

New York’s 50 highest-paid suburban school-district employees pulled in more than $260,000 apiece in the last school year — with two Long Island superintendents cracking the half-million-dollar mark.

Teachers notched six-figure salaries on average in the tony Westchester districts of Scarsdale, Bronxville and Byram Hills and in Jericho, LI, in 2011-12, according to a compilation of data by an arm of the Manhattan Institute.

Average pay for all school employees was actually dragged down by numerous substitute teachers and part-timers whose salaries came to only a few thousand dollars a year — although big pay packages to some retirees partially offset that.
The Scarsdale School District, which includes Scarsdale HS (above), has the highest-paid teachers on average in suburban New York.

Taxpayers ponied up more than twice as much to pay the $73,949 average Long Island school district employee salary than for the typical $36,394 employee in upstate’s Mohawk Valley west of Albany, according to the findings posted at SeeThrough.org.

The conservative think tank found that salaries for employees ranging from administrators and teachers to custodians, aides and bus drivers continued rising on Long Island and in six other regions over the past four recession-racked years while Mohawk Valley and Capital Region schools actually cut pay.

“Long Island and the Mid-Hudson are up, up, up four years straight,” noted Tim Hoefer, director of the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy. “These numbers just seem too high when you look at all these localities that are struggling financially. So where’s the breaking point?”

Rockville Centre Union Free School Superintendent William H. Johnson was top dog at $567,248.

The district noted Johnson’s payout was inflated by granting the 26-year veteran access to up to $300,000 in retirement pay in exchange for four years without raises and concessions, including higher out-of-pocket contributions toward his health insurance.

Syosset Central Schools Superintendent Carole Hankin was second at $506,015. She declined comment through a spokeswoman.

Scarsdale had the highest average teacher pay at $115,659.

New York City pays its teachers $73,751 on average, while Big Apple Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott makes $212,614 a year.

Hoefer saw one hopeful sign in the suburban numbers.

The year before last, 30 employees cracked the $300,000 mark, while only 15 did in 2011-12.

“Does this show some restraint in administrators’ salaries? Maybe,” he said.

“Or maybe fewer people retired [and took big lump-sum payouts] last year than the previous year.”

Gov. Cuomo approved a property-tax cap last year after complaining about the salaries of school superintendents.

“We have $500,000 school superintendents. We can’t pay those kind of salaries,” said Cuomo, whose salary is $179,000. “Why they get paid more than the governor of the state I really don’t understand.”
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#1 hotballa, Nov 14, 2012

Master Baiter Member

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Why would you not want to have the best people running our education systems? How do you think that you get the best people?

#2 Master Baiter, Nov 14, 2012
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Truth.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q_EWlmpwUoc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fBNh543A81U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mVyNlJUKgug" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

#3 rtsy, Nov 14, 2012
Mr. Clutch Member

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Unions

#4 Mr. Clutch, Nov 14, 2012
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Mr. Clutch said: ↑

Unions
Click to expand...

Except I don't believe superintendent of a municipal SD is a union job.

It's just smaller town school boards & local authorities doling out favors. Not unlike CEO's getting big pay packages from captive boards.

Lower visibility state and local govt's tend to be the market leaders in this kind of abuse - why is it that we need to devolve more power onto them according to certain people.

Edit - the other thing is that Scarsdale, Bronxville are rich 'burbs with good schools, of course they spend lots of money on teachers & administrators.

#5 SamFisher, Nov 14, 2012
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a $500,000 salary in NY is about equivalent to $200,000 in Houston. from a salary and standard of living standpoint, i don't think it's that bad. especially if they run a great district, they deserve it.

#6 macalu, Nov 14, 2012
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"Skiiiinnneerrrrr!!!!!"

#7 SwoLy-D, Nov 14, 2012

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khan academy is the future. kids come out of school only knowing how to hastag their one liners full of swag and yolo.

#8 mylilpony, Nov 14, 2012
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School district super > Deli owner

#9 Nook, Nov 14, 2012
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I will defend teachers... Superintendents, not so much. Most I've encountered are a little too egocentric for my tastes.

#10 rimrocker, Nov 14, 2012
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Master Baiter said: ↑

Why would you not want to have the best people running our education systems? How do you think that you get the best people?
Click to expand...

They aren't necessarily the best...

#11 juicystream, Nov 14, 2012
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btw: City Managers (not mayors) in small cities in California (<40,000) are often making $300k.

imo, the Superintendent of a huge school district SHOULD make more money than the Governor. Governor's job comes will a freaking mansion, limousine drivers, maids, cooks, food, free cable ... and all the toilet paper s/he needs. Oh, and a sheriff staff to find concubines for him.

#12 heypartner, Nov 14, 2012
Last edited: Nov 14, 2012
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Master Baiter said: ↑

Why would you not want to have the best people running our education systems? How do you think that you get the best people?
Click to expand...

I have zero problems with paying teachers and educators a high salary.

My wife is/was a high school teacher. She was putting in a solid 80hr week when school was on. Even counting the summers and all the holidays it was not worth it. I finally convinced her to quit because she had absolutely no life. Why? Because she actually cared about her job. If she was there to collect her paycheck its not a hard job. Teaching English in an inner city school where more then half the kids have trouble speaking, most don't care, and the school gives her four different curriculum to teach is not worth the crappy $45K

The principal at her school raked in a six figure salary and did absolutely nothing. Would hardly be at the school and had zero idea on what her job duties should have entailed.

So this NYC superintendents making nice six figure salaries is good only if there is some accountability on them.

#13 R0ckets03, Nov 14, 2012

hotballa Contributing Member

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juicystream said: ↑

They aren't necessarily the best...
Click to expand...

my suspicion as well. Most (not all) high salaried public workers here in NY are high salaried because of length of time on the job, regardless of merit. Unlike the private sector, they normally get annual raises.

Also, I don't have a problem with supers making good money, just not that good. What strikes me as most glaring is that the NYC super runs a system that is probably hundreds of times larger and more complex than the Sysosset school system. Yet he gets basically less than half her salary.

SamFisher makes a point I agree with about captive boards.

#14 hotballa, Nov 14, 2012
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R0ckets03 said: ↑

I have zero problems with paying teachers and educators a high salary.

My wife is/was a high school teacher. She was putting in a solid 80hr week when school was on. Even counting the summers and all the holidays it was not worth it. I finally convinced her to quit because she had absolutely no life. Why? Because she actually cared about her job. If she was there to collect her paycheck its not a hard job. Teaching English in an inner city school where more then half the kids have trouble speaking, most don't care, and the school gives her four different curriculum to teach is not worth the crappy $45K

The principal at her school raked in a six figure salary and did absolutely nothing. Would hardly be at the school and had zero idea on what her job duties should have entailed.

So this NYC superintendents making nice six figure salaries is good only if there is some accountability on them.
Click to expand...

Teaching can be a great gig. You just need the right school district, and love what you do.

#15 juicystream, Nov 14, 2012
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juicystream said: ↑

Teaching can be a great gig. You just need the right school district, and love what you do.
Click to expand...

OR the right principal in the right school but in the same district.

#16 SwoLy-D, Nov 14, 2012
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heypartner said: ↑

imo, the Superintendent of a huge school district SHOULD make more money than the Governor. Governor's job comes will a freaking mansion, limousine drivers, maids, cooks, food, free cable ... and all the toilet paper s/he needs. Oh, and a sheriff staff to find concubines for him.
Click to expand...

What he said. District superintendents have big responsiblities and you want talented people there, meaning you have to pay. $500k is probably a discount on what a similarly accomplished CEO would command on the private market. That's what you should be comparing to -- the market rate -- not to what the governor makes.

The governor also has a lot of responsibility and is grossly underpaid. But, unlike in school administration, we don't have any trouble finding talented candidates applying for the job. Governors get plenty of compensation outside of their salary like the mansion, power, prestige, fame, favors, kickbacks, etc. District superintendants, not so much.

#17 JuanValdez, Nov 14, 2012
rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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Superintendents have to manage a crap load of stuff to the most minute details. I have no problems with them making a lot of money as long as they are effective and as long as they don't get a "golden parachute" if they get fired for being sucky.

#18 rockbox, Nov 14, 2012

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Pay them all the money in the world. The inner city ones for keeping at-risk youths out of your house, retail establishments or office buildings during the middle of the day, the suburban ones for taking the slack off your lazy ass and putting your cable-watching, no encyclopedia, tutor or library card using kid in college. The percentage of kids going to college has increased from something like 40% to 75% in the last twenty years, time to give the educators their due.

#19 Dairy Ashford, Nov 14, 2012
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Who funded the research for this article, the Governor?

#20 Ziggy, Nov 14, 2012

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