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Myths about School Superintendents in New Jersey

By Harry J. Delgado, President
New Jersey School Boards Association

When the school superintendent in Keansburg retired earlier this year, her severance package of more than $740,000 caused an uproar throughout the state. Much of that has led to emotional, and sometimes inaccurate, rhetoric among legislators and the media.

It’s time to set the record straight. Below are some of the most common myths about school administration in New Jersey.

Myth #1: New Jersey Schools are administratively top-heavy.

Fact: Decades ago, one could make this assertion. But now, New Jersey ranks 41st highest in the nation in the percentage of its public-school dollar that goes toward administrative costs (less than 10 percent), according to the U.S. Department of Education.

In fact, from 1989-90 to 2005-06 the number of New Jersey students increased 30 percent, and the number of New Jersey teachers has increased 35 percent … but the number of administrators during the same timeframe has increased only 2.6 percent, according to the state Department of Education. Clearly, school boards have been putting resources into the classroom.

Myth #2: School administrators get excessive perks.

Fact: The severance package in Keansburg was unusual. In fact, the NJSBA has not seen anything comparable elsewhere. Recent news reports bear this out, when the Associated Press evaluated dozens of superintendent contracts in the state. The headlines said: “Excessive Superintendent Perks Rare.”

Myth #3: Regionalizing school districts would save tax dollars through the hiring of fewer superintendents.

Fact: That’s a simplistic concept, but the reality is that regionalizing could backfire. It is true that when two school districts regionalize, there would be one less superintendent and business administrator (although the savings could be nominal if the district needs assistant administrators to perform the required duties).

However, when districts combine, state law requires the teachers’ contract in the larger district to become the new contract for all teachers. Larger districts tend to have higher-paying contracts—and any administrative savings arising from regionalization could be gobbled up many times over by teachers “ramping up” to a higher-paying contract.

Moreover, regionalizing districts brings a change in apportionment of taxes, which is the amount that each community pays to operate the public school system. That almost always means one town’s property taxes will go up, and one town’s property taxes will go down. Even if New Jersey combined half its school districts with a neighboring town, that still means half of the state’s property taxes would increase … hardly property tax “relief.” The New Jersey School Boards Association supports regionalization, but only if studies determine there will be educational and economic benefits, and if voters approve.

Myth #4: School boards are to blame.

Fact: It’s important to understand that school board members are entirely unpaid and have no financial stake in how much superintendents earn. In fact, the New Jersey School Boards Association supports the concept of legislated caps on fringe benefits and other controls that will better enable local school boards to protect taxpayers. 

School board members are selected by the community to represent the financial and educational interests in the local schools. That’s a balancing act. School boards must balance the concerns of taxpayers with the community’s interests in securing strong, effective school leadership. Quality schools benefit everyone. A quality school system makes the community a desirable place to live. It can raise property values. When homebuyers look to move into a new town, the first question they ask is, “How are the schools?”

The public has every right to demand that the school board provide information about the compensation of its top officials. And if the community disagrees with the direction of its school board, then local voters—not anyone in Trenton—should be the ones who take appropriate action.

Harry J. Delgado is a member of the South Brunswick Board of Education and works as a Captain for the South Brunswick Police Department.

The New Jersey School Boards Association, a federation of district boards of education, advocates the interests of school districts, trains local school board members, and provides resources for the advancement of public education.