Cap pay for school
chiefs
From NJ Home News
Tribune Online June 16, 2006
Posted by GayPASG
June 21, 2006
It is a worthy idea unlikely to ever
see the light of day, but give a state senator from South Jersey credit for
suggesting that school superintendents be prevented from earning more than the
state's top education official, the commissioner of education, a Cabinet-level
post that pays $141,000 annually.
Bill sponsor Sen. Nicholas Asselta, R-Cumberland, could not be more on target
when he says, "It's painfully obvious the compensation superintendents receive
in this state is inflated."
Beleaguered taxpayers know the situation all too well. Even before the
now-infamous State Commission of Investigation report slamming superintendents'
salaries was released this spring, anyone with half a pulse recognized that
skyrocketing compensation for superintendents has gotten way out of hand and is
helping break the backs of school budgets. The report highlighted some who
earned more than $250,000, including perks.
Barry J. Galasso, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School
Administrators, argues a salary cap would only worsen what he calls a "shortage"
of superintendents around the state, where roughly 50 openings exist. No
it wouldn't. Just the opposite would happen. The large number of
openings is the direct result of higher salaries, not lower pay. Supers
can't help but chase bigger dollars and special extras, so they stay in one
place for a few years and then split for greener pastures. Asselta's
proposal would serve to bring some fiscal sanity and administrative continuity
to an over-inflated marketplace short of supply and long on demand.
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