Analysis: Superintendent pay increasing faster than teacher pay - Joplin Globe: Local News

Analysis: Superintendent pay increasing faster than teacher pay - Joplin Globe: Local News



In July 2015, Dr. David McGehee will earn $306,735 (salary this year $282,831, next year $294,463).  He will be overseeing about 17,500 or so students.  That is about .031% of the students Dr. Deasy oversees.  He can also buy back 15 unused vacation days at his daily compensation at perhaps as high as (guesstimate $282,831 divided by 231 days worked)  $1,221 per day.



Teachers in Lee's Summit R-7 Schools earn annual salaries based on years on the job as well as educational achievement. The salary schedule accounts for graduate degrees by providing higher starting salaries and greater potential salaries. The following table details the salary schedule for the 2013-2014 school year:[6]
Salary structure
Degree levelMinimum salary ($)Maximum salary ($)
B.A.35,50050,660
B.A. + 1537,00052,800
MA38,50070,137
MA + 1540,00072,870
MA + 3041,50075,602
MA + 4543,00078,335
Doctorate44,50081,068


Salaries of local school superintendents have been rising much faster than salaries of teachers in their districts — in some cases two and three times faster — according to a Globe analysis of data reported to and provided by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Joplin Superintendent C.J. Huff has one of the highest salaries of school administrators in the region, earning $177,275 last year. It's a salary that has increased by more than 52 percent over the past decade; his predecessor made $116,300 in 2004.
Yet average teacher salary — which includes base pay as well as extra-duty pay, extended-contract pay and supplemental pay for programs such as Career Ladder — increased in Joplin by only 21.7 percent during the same decade, from $33,582 to $40,884.
The widening salary gap between superintendents and teachers is not limited to Joplin. An analysis of data for the Webb City, Carthage, Carl Junction, Neosho, Lamar and McDonald County school districts between 2004 and 2014 revealed similar trends.
Experts say school districts must invest in their top administrator if they want to be successful and produce quality student outcomes.
"I think there is the understanding that if we are going to be a truly good school district for that student, for that family, then we have to pay top dollar for that superintendent," said Glenn Coltharp, a former teacher, principal and superintendent in several local school districts, as well as a former school board member.
Yet teachers' advocates continue to work toward higher salaries for that segment of educators.
"Speaking from the teachers' perspective, we don't begrudge superintendents having increasing salaries," said Bruce Moe, executive director of the Missouri State Teachers Association. "However, we think there should be some equity and parity there. Teachers' jobs are becoming increasingly difficult, just as superintendents' jobs are."


Hiring and retention

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