A bill, A-3775, that would prohibit the New Jersey Department of Education from regulating the maximum salary that a school district may pay its superintendent is in the Assembly Education Committee. The bill, introduced in 2018, would eliminate the superintendent salary cap, which can have a negative impact on the quality, stability and continuity of public education.
A companion bill, S-692, was approved by the full Senate in February 2018.
Supporters of the bill are urging the Assembly leadership to act on the measure.
NJSBA has drafted a sample resolution that local boards of education can adopt and submit to let their state legislators know their stance on this issue. The draft resolution is located online here.
Individual board members may contact Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Assembly Education Committee chair and Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt to express support for the bill. Contact information is below:
Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin
Email: AsmCoughlin@njleg.org
569 Rahway Ave.
Woodbridge, NJ 07095
Telephone: (732) 855-7441
Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt
Email: AswLampitt@njleg.org
1101 Laurel Oak Rd.
Suite 150
Voorhees, NJ 08043
Telephone: (856) 435-1247
NJSBA has long held that the cap is unnecessary, because school districts have to comply with statutory and regulatory spending constraints, including the 2% cap on increases in the school tax levy; the administrative spending growth limit; and the New Jersey Department of Education review of superintendent employment contracts, which is designed to limit excessive compensation packages. Collectively these constraints require boards of education to be prudent in determining where to allocate their limited resources.
NJSBA’s support for repealing the cap is based on the belief that local boards of education should have the flexibility to direct their limited resources in a manner that best serves the needs of students. As such, they should have the authority to determine compensation for the superintendent just as they do for all others employed by the school district.
The impact of the unnecessary superintendent salary cap has been felt across the state with respect to turnover, a decline in the experience level of candidates, and a proliferation in the hiring of interim superintendents who can only serve a maximum of two years in any school district.
NJSBA believes that approval of S-692/A-3775 would advance the stability and continued quality of public education in New Jersey and would not increase government spending or infringe on the interests of taxpayers.