Base median salaries for the nation’s K-12 superintendents rose modestly this school year—1-2 percent—from 2012-13, and in most cases, salaries for female schools’ chiefs were slightly higher than their male peers, according to a new survey.
The 2013 Superintendents Salary and Benefits Study—released today by the School Superintendents Association, or AASA—collected responses from more than 2,300 top school leaders. This is just the second year for the AASA survey, which queried 9,000 superintendents on a range of issues related to their compensation packages and economic conditions in their districts.
Among other top-level findings in the survey:
- Nearly half of responding superintendents said that economic conditions were “stable” in their districts, but 40 percent said that financial conditions were “declining";
- Nonwhite superintendents were more likely to report that they are managing school districts in a declining economic condition;
- More than 40 percent of respondents said that student outcomes and performance data are part of their annual evaluations; and
- More than 10 percent of respondents said they have been rehired as schools chiefs after retiring, a sign, the survey said, of an “aging superintendent population and potentially narrowing pool of individuals interested in entering the superintendency.”
The number of respondents to the survey ticked up more than 25 percent over last year. The majority who did the survey this year are superintendents in small districts that range from 300 to 2,499 students. More than 70 percent of respondents described their districts as rural.
The survey is meant to be a benchmark for the field of superintendents, according to AASA officials. It comes out just a day ahead of AASA’s annual conference, which kicks off tomorrow in Nashville.