NJ Ready To Pay Superintendents What They Want: Here's How Much

New Jersey lawmakers say that $191,584 isn't enough to pay a school district superintendent.

So now they're pushing through legislation that would eliminate the cap former Gov. Chris Christie placed on superintendent salaries back in 2010.

An Assembly committee unanimously passed legislation this week that would eliminate caps on superintendent salaries that, lawmakers say, have resulted in dozens of school districts losing administrators.

State records show that some superintendents actually do make more than the cap, but there are exceptions for the size of certain districts as well as the types of school systems in operation (such as districts with schools that serve special education students).

Read more: The 939 NJ Superintendents, Principals Who Earned $150K Or More

“This will give districts more flexibility in setting salaries so they can attract and retain great leaders in their school districts rather than losing them to nonpublic districts or to other states," said Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex.

A 2014 New Jersey School Boards Association report on the superintendent salary cap found that almost 40 percent of the state’s 570 operating school districts have experienced turnover, and many of these have had more than two interim superintendents over a three-year period, the lawmakers said.

In the report, the NJSBA found that 97 superintendents left because of the cap, and more than half of the districts that hired a permanent replacement hired someone who was a new superintendent.

The original intent of the salary caps was to rein in excessive compensation packages, the lawmakers said, and came after several cases were highlighted in media reports, but had "severe unintentional consequences."

The bill (S692) would prohibit the Department of Education from regulating the maximum salary amount a board of education could provide to a superintendent of schools pursuant to the employment contract.

“When it comes to the top education official in a district, we have to be able to offer compensation that will allow districts to hire the best of the best," said Senator Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen. "We have seen numerous school districts lose superintendents because of the arbitrary restriction placed on salaries.

"In Bergen County alone, because of the high cost of living, we are seeing a ‘brain drain’ – it seems like we have more interim superintendents than permanent superintendents across the districts. Leaving decisions about superintendent pay to the districts will hopefully reverse this trend,” he added.