CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Public school superintendents in Wyoming earn an average salary of about $130,000 a year, well above what the governor and other statewide elected officials make and about $22,000 a year more than the average school superintendent in Colorado, an analysis by The Associated Press shows.
The analysis indicates superintendents are reaping the benefits of not being scrutinized as part of the state’s nascent public education reform effort and from the good intentions of the Legislature to improve the pay of educators.
During the 2011-12 school year, superintendents made from $72,875 to $191,171, based on data provided by the Wyoming Department of Education. One district has two superintendents who each earned $132,000 a year.
In all, Wyoming’s 48 public school districts paid an average $132,753 in compensation to superintendents. Nationally, the average was $155,634 in 2008-09, according to the American Association of School Administrators.
About six years ago, Wyoming educators were among the lowest paid in the nation, and the state was seeing teachers and administrators leaving for better paying jobs in other states.
That changed when the Legislature funded better pay for educators, attracting more quality applicants, reducing turnover and improving student performance, said Dan Stephan, executive director of the Wyoming Association of School Administrators.
Today, Wyoming spends some $1 billion a year on K-12 education to better prepare students for college and careers.
State Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he wasn’t surprised by the superintendent salaries—but student performance had to improve.
“The Legislature has just chosen to pay teachers better and fund education in general better, and I think that’s probably the fallout to that when you look at superintendent salaries. We just pay better,” Coe said. “But do I agree with it? When we start getting better student performance, I will, through accountability.”
Wyoming spent $15,997 per pupil in 2011, the fifth-highest amount in the nation, according to data compiled by the National Education Association. However, while the state has increased its education spending more than any other state except New York since 1992, student test scores are below the national average.
“It’s a record-breaker on the expenditure side, and it’s below average on the achievement side,” said Paul Peterson, a Harvard University professor who helped author a recent study on student assessment scores.
New laws are on the books to measure student achievement and to hold schools, teachers and administrators accountable for the results. The effort is in its early stages and will require years to fully implement. But it hasn’t focused on how the money is being spent. Local school boards have great latitude in how they spend state funds.
Thirty-eight of Wyoming’s 48 districts pay their superintendents an average of $23,510 more than what is recommended by a state funding model to help guide districts in their spending. Peterson said superintendents can have good leverage in negotiating their salaries with local school boards.
“The superintendents tie their salaries to teacher salaries,” he said. “Every time the teachers get an increase the superintendents get an increase as well.”
No state has seen a greater percentage increase in teacher pay between 2000-01 and 2010-11 than Wyoming, ranking the state’s teacher salaries 16th in the nation, according to the National Education Association.
On average, primary, secondary, and special education school teachers were paid $57,805 in 2010-11.
“Superintendents have a lot of political clout in a state that has small districts because they’re sometimes the biggest employer in town,” Peterson said.
Sheridan County School District 3, which is based in the small ranching community of Clearmont, notes on its website that it is “one of the largest single employers in the district” with 39 employees. The district had 90 students in 2011-12 and paid its superintendent $115,589.
Big Horn School District 3, which had 490 students, paid its superintendent $72,875, the lowest salary in the state. By comparison, Colorado’s lowest paid superintendent, who oversees 167 students, earned $45,000, according to figures from the Colorado Department of Education.
Colorado had eight superintendents who made more than $200,000 last year, but most oversaw large districts with student populations up to near 60,000. Cheyenne’s Laramie County School District 1 is Wyoming’s largest with about 13,400 students.
Four Wyoming superintendents were paid more than any of the seven state community college presidents last year. Thirty-seven earned more than Gov. Matt Mead, who is paid $105,000, and 45 made more than state Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill’s $92,000 salary.
In southwest Wyoming, Uinta County School District 1 in Evanston is unique in that it has two superintendents, each paid $132,000 a year. The district has about 2,900 students.
Co-superintendent Ryan Thomas explained that the situation evolved four or five years ago when the single superintendent at the time left in mid-year, leaving the two assistant superintendents to run the district. The arrangement worked so well that the school board decided to have co-superintendents and no assistant superintendents.
“So we ended up saving about $123,000 a year for the district by having two individuals do the work of three,” Thomas said.
