Database reveals top
school pay
By GREGORY J. VOLPE,
Home News Tribune Online, October 11, 2006
TRENTON — Seven months after a
scathing report revealed how many of the state's school superintendents receive
generous perks hidden from public scrutiny, the state Department of Education
yesterday put a database online listing salaries for top school district
administrators.
But the list of 1,518 entries does not identify the administrators by name and
does nothing to shed light on the pension-boosting, often-hidden perks a March
report by the State Commission of Investigation revealed.
"The problem, of course, is that the base salaries, as we disclosed in our
investigation, really don't tell anything close to the full story on
compensation," said SCI spokesman Lee Seglem. "They don't include the
types of things that our work revealed. ... It sounds like they're taking a step
in the right direction, but it's not to the extent we had talked about in our
report."
The SCI report, "Taxpayers Beware," revealed hidden boosters, such as selling
back unused sick or vacation time, car and clothing allowances and annuities.
The average reported salaries among administrators in 71 districts examined by
the SCI was $181,000, while the commission found their actual average
compensation was worth nearly $252,000.
The information posted yesterday — based on October 2005 data — is what the
Department of Education regularly collects. Administrator names "are not
part of the data collection in the information we had," DOE spokesman Jon Zlock
said. "We pulled the information we had existing and tried to pull it out
into a reader-friendly format. Certainly, people can cross-reference on
the local level to see who their superintendents are."
Acting Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy, said in a statement that 2006
data will include a lump sum — reported by local districts — that
superintendents receive in perks. A spokesman for Gov. Jon S. Corzine said
this information will be published "in the coming months."
"We must recognize the valuable role superintendents play as the district's
educational leaders, and their salaries should be reflective of that role," Davy
said. "But the public should still have ready access to that information.
This new posting is the first step in an effort to increase the transparency of
compensation packages."
Lawmakers who have called for more disclosure since the SCI report was issued
said the department's effort did little for full disclosure and nothing to
address the reforms the SCI report called for.
"Today's little baby step from the Department of Education, is a little tiny
step, but the SCI has already told us and given us exactly what we need to do,"
Assemblyman Bill Baroni Jr., R-Mercer, Middlesex, said.
Added Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole, R-Essex: "Having just generic,
half-disclosures doesn't fit the bill for transparency and reform that Gov.
Corzine and Republicans and Democrats have been calling for."
Assemblyman Michael Panter Jr., D-Monmouth, said taxpayers need to have more
information.
"I would hope that means there's simply a lag in between instilling new
reporting requirements that gets them the information they need and publishing
it," Panter said. "But it's very disconcerting because that was months ago
that we discovered this problem. And I think if parents and taxpayers
don't have the information at their fingertips with respect to how their money
is being spent on administrators, that's really a large red flag."
Even the lobbying organization for the school administrators whose salaries were
publicly released yesterday griped that the list did not go far enough.
Barry J. Galasso, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School
Administrators, said if the goal is transparency, all salaries — from
superintendent to school secretary — should be easily accessible to taxpayers.
"We're for full transparency. We don't have a problem with listing all
employees. We have a problem to limiting it to a few employees," Galasso
said.
Corzine spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said the governor was pleased with the
posting as a first step.
SCI officials and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, are expected to
testify today before the property-tax committee looking at government
consolidation on their goals of having more transparency of school spending and
giving county superintendents greater oversight of local school spending.
gvolpe@gannett.com
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT SALARIES (as of
Oct. 15, 2005)
Home News Tribune Online 10/11/06
Carteret $143,112
Cranbury $141,750
Dunellen $160,527
East Brunswick $169,500
Edison $167,063
Franklin $195,593
Greater Brunswick Charter School $32,000
Highland Park $175,000
Jamesburg $110,000
Linden $168,000
Metuchen $163,000
Middlesex Borough $136,006
Middlesex County Educational
Services Commission $164,652
Middlesex County Vocational School District $156,156
Milltown $130,000
Monroe $175,858
New Brunswick $189,280
North Brunswick $170,893
Old Bridge $170,660
Perth Amboy $169,000
Piscataway $173,663
Rahway $151,946
Sayreville $160,000
South Amboy $150,000
South Brunswick $168,000
South Plainfield $154,350
South River $154,954
Spotswood $163,119
West Windsor-Plainsboro $177,793
Woodbridge $156,443
Source: New Jersey Department of Education
On the Web: See salaries for the state:
www.nj.gov/njded/data/salary
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