As school officials across the state labor to balance their budgets, the average annual salary of superintendents continues to rise, with 26 now earning more than $200,000, according to state data released Friday.
Over the last five school years, the average superintendents’ pay has risen 27 percent, compared with 13 percent for Illinois teachers.
The steeper increase for superintendents can be traced, in part, to a national shortage of educators willing to head up local school districts. As Baby Boomer educators gray, the applicant pool is shrinking, and competition for qualified superintendents is driving up costs.
The state’s 854 school district superintendents averaged $114,145 in pay in the 2001-2002 school year, up 5.5 percent from the previous year. Thirty-three raked in more than the salary of the vice president of the United States, who earns $192,600.
Those high salaries come as hundreds of school districts across the state descend into deficit spending. Sixty-four percent of districts spent more than they received in 2000-2001, according to the most recent data. With the state facing a severe budget crunch and voters turning their backs on tax increases, state education officials expect that more than 80 percent of districts will be in deficit spending by spring.
Eight of the 10 highest-paid superintendents hail from districts that have been in the deficit-spending mode.
“The bottom line is districts cannot afford these compensation packages, given the state of education funding in Illinois,” said Bob Silverman, board president in Niles Township High School District 219, whose then-superintendent, Griff Powell, was the fourth-highest paid in Illinois last year. “But there’s such a shortage of good superintendents that we cannot afford not to offer them handsome packages. You’ve got to be competitive if you want the best.”
The annual salary figures are compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education and can include retirement payouts, performance bonuses, unused vacation and sick time.
The report could lend support to the recent effort to merge small school districts into larger ones, thereby cutting down on administrator costs. Some of the state’s smaller school districts–there are 23 that have fewer than 100 students–spend as much as 20 percent of their budget on administrator salaries.
A governor-appointed task force delivered a proposal to the General Assembly last month calling for statewide school district consolidation legislation.
All told, Illinois public school districts spent nearly $97.5 million on superintendents last school year, a $5.3 million increase from the previous year.
Forty-nine of the 50 highest-paid school chiefs work in the six-county Chicago region. Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan, who heads the largest district in Illinois, ranks 59th, at $180,000.
The top earner was John Conyers, of Palatine School District 15, who made $303,000 in salary, retirement and performance bonuses. Conyers, who has been with the district for 18 years and recently announced his plans to retire, could not be reached for comment.
But Paula Mikula, District 15 school board president, said Conyers is “worth every penny.”
“We know he is worth it because he is in demand. Other districts, and the private sector, have sought him out,” she said. “He is the leader in our district and if you go into the buildings you will see that he emphasizes quality.”
Adds board member Laura Crane: “Because of him, our district is financially and academically sound.”
According to the state, Palatine District 15 was operating with a deficit during the 2000-2001 school year.
The increase in superintendent salaries does not sit well with some teachers, who have not seen their pay rise at a similar rate.
“Administrators certainly have a role in educating our kids, but the most critical element of a child’s education is the teacher,” said Gail Purkey, spokeswoman for the Illinois Federation of Teachers. “To see their salaries go up by so much and ours not keep pace, well, that’s disheartening.”
But Larry Ascough, spokesman for Elgin-based School District 46, said school chief salaries are rising because the job is becoming more demanding and less appealing. Retired District 46 Supt. Marvin Edwards oversaw 6,000 employees and 40,000 students and managed a $300 million operating budget. He earned $266,000 last school year, making him the third-highest paid in the state.
“If he was doing the same job in the private sector, he’d make 10 times what he made working for us,” Ascough said. “I think he was a real bargain.”
