Democrats in Trenton look to remove superintendent salary caps
FEBRUARY 8, 2015, 11:32 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2015, 11:35 PM
BY ALLISON PRIES
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Saddle River is on the hunt for its third superintendent in three years.
Alpine wants permission to keep its interim leader beyond the two-year state limit.
And Ho-Ho-Kus is hoping its high-achieving, parent-involved district appears attractive to superintendent candidates — even though it can offer them only $135,000.
Leaders in some small, wealthy North Jersey school districts say the superintendent pay cap — instituted by Governor Christie in 2011 — has dealt them a particularly hard blow. Once seen as appealing places to work, these districts now are having trouble drawing and retaining top candidates because they’re competing with larger districts that are allowed to pay more and New York State, which has no salary limits. What’s more, they are willing to pay top dollar, but can’t.
On top of it, many of these chief executives often work double duty as principals, so offering them less than what they could earn in subordinate roles elsewhere isn’t always an easy sell.
Christie targeted superintendent salaries five years ago with his Reform Agenda to help school districts keep costs low and better finance priority services.
Superintendent salaries had risen, on average, 46 percent or $100 million between 2001 and 2010, according to the governor’s office.
The cap resulted in the reduction of salaries for about 360 school superintendents, or 70 percent, for a potential savings of nearly $9.8 million statewide, $2.2 million in Bergen County and $650,000 in Passaic County, according to the state data.
When the cap was imposed, Christie’s move was panned by educators and praised by fiscal conservatives, who complained about the state’s high property taxes — and even higher per-pupil costs for suburban districts.
Today, the New Jersey Senate Budget Committee will vote on a bill sponsored by Sens. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, and M. Teresa Ruiz, D-Newark, that would roll back the caps, prohibiting the state Department of Education from regulating the maximum salary a school district can pay its superintendent. The bill was already considered by the education committee, Sarlo said.