A cost-control measure imposed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie might be going away.
Melanie Schultz with the New Jersey Association of School Administrators says the cap on school superintendents’ salaries makes it difficult to retain top talent.
“We have lost many superintendents to neighboring states. It also is very important that communities’ elected boards of education or appointed boards of education have the right to decide on the compensation for their chief school administrator”
Betsy Ginsburg is executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools. She says many visionary superintendents have left New Jersey because of the salary cap.
“The districts have suffered. Now more than ever we need those superintendents. So we need local boards to determine their capacity to pay them and still have the accountability measures that are already in place.”
Senator Mike Doherty believes the cap is not limiting the number of qualified applicants.
“Whenever one of these positions opens up at a school with this cap in place right now, you get dozens if not hundreds of applications. There are plenty of people who will do the job for less than we’re paying the superintendents right now.”
Doherty says superintendents are among the highest-paid public employees.
He voted against it when the Senate Education Committee advanced a bill that would end the cap.