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School Board Journal
November / December 1995
January / February 1996

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1995-1996 administrators' salaries
What school boards are paying administrators in Illinois

By MAX E. PIERSON, CYNTHIA WALTERSHAUSEN, and ROBERT G. ROGERS

How much should we pay the new superintendent? That is one of the questions most frequently asked by school boards that are preparing to recruit a new chief administrator.

It is a question that can be difficult to answer. Some factors in reaching the decision include community perception of an "appropriate" salary for the chief school administrator, the availability of information about other superintendent salaries in the area, and the average income level in the community.

This report of salary ranges for superintendents and other administrators around the state will help your board determine a fair salary for your new superintendent (or for the existing one at salary review time). The figures are for this year, so you will need to add a cost-of-living adjustment for next year. The information also can be used to explain the superintendent's salary to your community. Other tables show principals' salaries and beginning salaries of Western Illinois University graduates.

Superintendents' salaries

Salaries generally increase, moving from the southern to the northern part of the state. Generally, the larger the district, the higher the salary, but there are many notable exceptions throughout the state.

In some cases, experience continues to be rewarded, but there are now many cases where new superintendents' salaries exceed those of the experienced. Generally, in the past, districts with low assessed valuation paid less than those with high valuation; now there are many exceptions.

Increased salaries may be due to the 5 + 5 retirement program, which has created a shortage of qualified superintendents.

Superintendent salaries were gleaned from unaudited information reported by school districts to the Illinois State Board of Education on the Teachers Service Record, Fall, 1995. The figures were gathered by the staff of the ISBE department of research and policy, who made possible the timely dissemination of the information.

The data were compiled and analyzed by staff of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs and Department of Educational Administration and Supervision, Western Illinois University. The data were sorted by region and district type before the range and mean were calculated.

The data comprise the results of reports from 642 districts, of 916 possible, a response rate of 71 percent. At press time, some districts had not submitted the report for various reasons. No part-time or interim superintendents' salaries are included.

Most downstate counties are nearly complete. Data from Cook County and the suburban collar counties, while not complete, appear to be representative. Salary data from the City of Chicago public schools is not included.

Principals' salaries

The data for principals' salaries were self-reported by school districts; they were collected as part of the data gathering for the 29th Annual Salary Survey, Western Illinois Administrators Round Table, and were compiled and analyzed by Robert G. Rogers.

Suburban districts near Chicago and St. Louis did not respond to the survey. Therefore, the salaries given in those two areas are not representative of the suburban districts in those regions.

The data were gleaned from 116 respondents of a possible 326 for a response rate of 35 percent. The data from regions with a very small number of responding districts may not accurately characterize salaries in the region. The data were sorted by region before the range and mean were calculated.

Entry level salaries

These data were self-reported by recent graduates of the Department of Educational Administration and Supervision, Western Illinois University. They were compiled and analyzed by Cynthia Waltershausen as part of an employability study of program graduates from 1992 to 1995 who still live in the United States.

The service area of the university includes the Quad Cities where teaching salaries are comparable to those found in Northeast Illinois. It also includes small downstate districts where the salaries are somewhat less. The beginning salaries reported for building level administrative positions ranged from $34,845 for a teacher/principal position beginning in 1995, to $48,000 for an assistant principal beginning in 1995. Beginning salaries for district level administrators ranged from $39,000 for a curriculum director beginning in 1995 to $69,000 for an assistant superintendent starting in 1994.

Max Pierson was a school superintendent in Illinois for 15 years. Cynthia Waltershausen was a principal in the Monmouth schools for six years. Both are now professors of educational administration at Western Illinois University. Robert G. Rogers is superintendent of Scott-Morgan Unit District 2.

The authors wish to thank Connie Wise, Don Corrigan and the staff members of the Department of Research and Policy, Illinois State Board of Education and acknowledge their contributions to this effort.

Table 1: Superintendents' Salaries

Region                 High             Low            Mean
Northeast            $145,788         $62,647        $112,995
Northwest            $ 96,139         $63,044        $ 78,564
East Central         $ 84,920         $55,978        $ 74,231
West Central         $124,319         $61,174        $ 84,076
Southeast            $ 95,330         $53,317        $ 72,283
Southwest            $ 95,536         $65,217        $ 78,974

Northeast            $139,646         $47,700        $ 96,337
Northwest            $102,751         $35,381        $ 61,599
East Central         $ 82,970         $39,500        $ 62,672
West Central         $104,041         $44,583        $ 69,704
Southeast            $ 81,086         $40,500        $ 57,291
Southwest            $ 89,640         $40,000        $ 63,892

Northeast            $135,804         $59,895        $ 93,931
  (does not include Chicago)
Northwest            $118,571         $47,000        $ 74,544
East Central         $115,987         $48,500        $ 71,608
West Central         $131,035         $49,088        $ 71,736
Southeast            $ 94,952         $48,262        $ 68,810
Southwest            $ 93,224         $49,140        $ 69,420

Table 2: Principals' Salaries

High School Districts

Northeast            12       $71,675    $51,000     $62,272
Northwest            18       $79,626    $40,000     $58,260
East Central         10       $67,673    $44,200     $55,699
West Central         60       $67,000    $37,000     $50,322
Southeast            10       $60,000    $40,000     $48,338
Southwest            06       $61,500    $38,000     $49,726

Junior High or Middle School

Northeast            12       $68,575    $49,000     $62,004
Northwest            18       $62,148    $42,800     $53,829
East Central         10       $57,912    $45,000     $51,403
West Central         60       $60,640    $39,000     $48,501
Southeast            10       $54,815    $44,876     $49,230
Southwest            06       $54,500    $43,000     $47,606

Elementary School

Northeast            12       $68,500    $43,000     $57,985
Northwest            18       $58,840    $40,500     $48,080
East Central         10       $55,500    $41,500     $47,153
West Central         60       $56,628    $32,000     $43,236
Southeast            10       $55,000    $42,000     $41,950
Southwest            06       $51,340    $43,260     $47,055

Table 3: Entry Level Salaries

As reported by recent graduates of Western Illinois University working in Illinois

Elementary/High School Principals
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $43,500

Elementary Principals
1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . $46,000
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $39,250

Middle School Principals
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $47,000

High School Principals
1994 . . . . . . . $38,000 - $46,000

Teacher/Principal
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $34,845

Junior High Dean of Students
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $45,120

Curriculum Coordinators
1995 . . . . . . .$39,000 to $47,000

Assistant Superintendents
1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . $69,000
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $63,000

Superintendents
1994 . . . . . . . $50,000 - $53,500
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $59,000

Business Manager
1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . $45,000

At-Risk Coordinator
1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . $40,000