Superintendent pay has been rising, within [Wisconsin’s] 426 school districts the average pay for a superintendent is $147,550 per year in salary and benefits. In 2003, the average full-time administrator was paid $123,142 in salary and benefits.

"I think like everything else, the price is going up," said Dennis Richards, a search consultant for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

According to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction data, school districts in the area and of comparable size that have recently hired a new superintendent will pay the person more than the position's predecessor. In addition, each of the new hires will be paid more than they made in their last district.

"It's certainly market driven. Right now there are a lot of qualified candidates for some of these positions," Richards said. "As a result, salaries are going higher. I certainly expect that a candidate would want (a salary) that someone in a similar district doing similar work (is getting)."

"Practically speaking, these are big businesses," said Richards, who is a retired superintendent. "It's sometimes not recognized that you are talking hundreds of employees and a million dollar budgets. With the comparables that Oshkosh is going to have to look at, $120,000 won't look like a lot of money."

As a very general rule, Richards said, the larger the district is, the more a superintendent should probably make. Further, Richards said Wisconsin superintendents generally are paid less than those in surrounding states.

"The last person's salary is a variable but it's not as high of a variable as what the person is currently making," he said.

Read the full article…

Source: The Northwestern, 7.22.08