More reaction pouring in today. State 48 News holds exclusive interview with Arizona’s top education official, who calls the superintendent-teacher pay gap “unconscionable."
Public transparency is always a good thing, but context is important. Superintendent salaries in the $200s are not out of line with comparable city or state positions that oversee thousands of employees. They are also a bargain compared to the earnings of some executives of private organizations that run taxpayer-funded schools.
It should be noted that, overall, Arizona has the lowest school administrative spending in the country and administrative spending includes Superintendent salaries.
Also, while the State of Arizona continues to provide among the lowest per pupil funding amounts for K-12 education of any state in the country, our state has teacher salaries that are much closer to the national median. This means that Arizona school leaders are doing a much better job than those in other states of maximizing teacher salaries relative to the funding provided.
Public transparency is always a good thing, but context is important. Superintendent salaries in the $200s are not out of line with comparable city or state positions that oversee thousands of employees. They are also a bargain compared to the earnings of some executives of private organizations that run taxpayer-funded schools.
It should be noted that, overall, Arizona has the lowest school administrative spending in the country and administrative spending includes Superintendent salaries.
Also, while the State of Arizona continues to provide among the lowest per pupil funding amounts for K-12 education of any state in the country, our state has teacher salaries that are much closer to the national median. This means that Arizona school leaders are doing a much better job than those in other states of maximizing teacher salaries relative to the funding provided.