Dive Brief:
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Superintendent pay has not kept pace with inflation, according to a salary study released Wednesday by AASA, The Superintendents Association. When factoring for inflation, the median superintendent salary in 2023 was about $7,000 less than a decade ago. Overall, the median superintendent salary in 2023 was $156,000.
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Despite men still accounting for nearly three quarters of superintendents (73%), those women who have attained the superintendency are more than holding their own salary-wise: earning a median $156,780 compared to $156,000 for men.
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Superintendents are also now more likely to use legal counsel or another third party to help negotiate or develop their contract terms. Some 36% of superintendents said they did so in 2023-24, compared to 30% of superintendents in 2019-20.
Dive Insight:
The study, based on more than 2,700 responses, found trends consistent with previous years.
For example, the survey found in 2022 that superintendents were skewing younger than before, and the 2023 results found this trend had continued.
The percentage of superintendents who were 60 or older decreased from 20% in 2012 to just 10% in 2023-24. AASA also found the percentage of superintendents ages 41 to 50 to be "noticeably higher," at 35% in 2023, compared to 30% in 2012.
Diversity is still inching upward, but — as in previous years — the superintendency remains overwhelmingly White.
In 2023, 87% of superintendents were White compared to 94% a decade prior. That's also down 2 percentage points from 2022, when 89% of superintendents were White.
Showing a slight increase, 4.5% of superintendents in 2023 were Black, compared to 3.9% in 2022.
Some 2023 median base salaries decreased since year prior
The compensation data comes as various states have considered salary caps for superintendents in recent years. Last year, legislation proposed in Texas, Nebraska and North Dakota brought superintendents' salaries under the magnifying glass. This year, a salary cap is on the table in Missouri.
However, some states have removed or are considering removing already established salary caps. Lawmakers in Hawaii, for example, have proposed removing a $250,000 salary cap for the state superintendent, who also serves as superintendent of the only public school system in the state. New Jersey also removed a salary cap for district superintendents in 2019.
In 2022, only about 5% of district leaders had a limit on their annual salary, according to previous findings from AASA.