The Post Standard, March 16, 2011, Wednesday

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The Post Standard (Syracuse, NY)

March 16, 2011, Wednesday

Superintendents resist pay cap
Some school officials say Cuomo's proposal to limit salaries is just a diversion from deep cuts in aid to education

About one-third of school superintendents in Central New York could face pay cuts if Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pro-posal to put a cap on their salaries becomes law.

Some local school officials believe superintendents are being unfairly targeted. Some working to fill vacant super-intendent positions in CNY also said they fear a cap could hinder their ability to attract good candidates.

Cuomo introduced a bill last month that would, based on a district's student enrollment, put a cap on the sixfigure salaries. For instance, superintendents in school districts with fewer than 250 students could make up to $125,000, while the cap would be set at $175,000 for superintendents in the largest districts, with more than 6,501 students.

"It certainly looks like a political ploy to me," said Liverpool Central School District Superintendent Richard N. Johns. "Superintendents are an easy target. It's basically a distraction from the reality of the governor's proposed $1.5 billion cut in school aid."

Johns' salary would be reduced to $175,000 from $180,000 when his contract expires, if the cap is approved.

The average superintendent salary in the state is $166,000 a year. A year ago, the state average was $163,000, just above the national average of $160,000. The average salary for school superintendents is $143,404 in Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Madison and Oswego counties.

In the region, 12 superintendents make more than the state average. Under the cap proposal, 37 percent of the su-perintendents would take a pay cut when their contracts come up for renewal, based on their current salaries.

The proposal is under review in the Assembly, said Sisa Moyo, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat. Some political experts expect the proposal will have a hard time passing in the Assembly.

The bill already has support from a number of Senate Republicans, said Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Senate Republican majority.

"We are interested in finding ways to help school districts control their own spending," Reif said. "And with school aid cuts this year, we need to find ways to reduce spending and keep more resources in the classrooms."

Cuomo's proposal would bring salaries of school superintendents back in line with other senior public officials, ac-cording to the bill. The governor, for example, makes $179,000 a year, although Cuomo has agreed to a 5 percent pay cut to bring his salary to about $170,000.

Cuomo's staff said the superintendents' salary cap would save taxpayers about $15 million.

Syracuse common councilors considered a proposed limit of $190,000 on the salary of the Syracuse City School District's next superintendent. Councilor Ryan McMahon, a Republican, said a cap would be appropriate at a time when the district is eliminating 450 positions.
Monday, however, the council voted 6-3 against a local cap. The governor's proposal would cap the Syracuse su-perintendent's pay at $175,000.

John Bishop, an associate professor in human resource studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said the $15 million in savings won't make a big difference in the governor's proposed $133 billion budget. The savings from the cap is about .01 percent of the governor's total budget proposal.

"Superintendent's work is very difficult work and the cap won't fix the financial problem the state is facing," said Bishop, an expert in education research. "Lowering superintendent salaries won't improve education; it's merely a distraction."

Robert Lowry, of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, also said the proposal is a distraction from Cuomo's $1.5 billion cut to school aid.

"This is an attempt to create an argument over $15 million, rather than have $1.5 billion school aid cut that he has proposed," he said. "My interpretation of the cap is (Cuomo) would rather have the focus be on superintendent salaries than on what school districts will have to do with the deep cuts they are facing."

Skaneateles Superintendent Philip D'Angelo, who makes $179,417 a year, would lose almost $24,000, the second largest drop in CNY, if the cap became a law. (The largest cut in salary would be to Jamesville-DeWitt's Alice Kendrick, who would see her salary drop by $27,000.)
"I'm frustrated," D'Angelo said. "I have two master's degrees and I'm working on my doctorate. I started teaching earning $17,000 a year. I've paid my dues."

D'Angelo, who said being a superintendent is an around-the-clock job, argues it should be left to the boards of edu-cation to decide the pay for each superintendent.

Bill Speck, superintendent of Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, agrees that decisions on the superintendents' pay should be left to school boards. And he fears the cap could make filling vacancies more difficult.

Speck is leading a search for a superintendent in the Jordan-Elbridge school district. The school board has agreed on a salary range of $120,000 to $140,000, which is less than the governor's cap of $145,000 for the district, which has 1,481 students.

"This is a specific salary range the community group and the board of education thought was appropriate for this time, place and location," Speck said. "My belief is it should be the local board's decision and authority to set salaries."

Jessica Cohen, district superintendent and chief executive officer of the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES, is also leading searches in CNY and fears a salary cap could hurt her ability to find qualified candidates.

Cohen said there has been a cap on BOCES superintendent salaries since 1993. The cap, originally set at $128,000, has been adjusted five times in the past eight years. The cap is now at $166,572.

"I believe the salary cap will have and has had a tremendous effect on superintendent searches," Cohen said. She said candidates have withdrawn from open BOCES superintendent seats because of the salary cap.

Cohen also said the bill would take away local control from boards of education.
"In New York state, school boards, by law, make the decisions of who gets hired and what salaries and benefits are given to superintendents," Cohen said. "What this legislation does is take away that local control."

According to Cuomo's bill, though, the bill would allow voters to override the cap if "the community believes it is in the best interest of the school district."
Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298.

TRYING ON A SALARY CAP
The salaries of school superintendents would be capped under a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, based on their districts' enrollments. This chart shows the current salaries of Central New York superintendents and how much, if any, their pay would be cut to meet the proposed caps.
District Superintendent Current salary Enrollment 2009-10 Proposed salary cap Salary decrease
Cayuga County Auburn Joseph "J.D." Pabis $174,354 4,378 $165,000 $9,354 Cato-Meridian W. Noel Patterson $116,200 1,052 $145,000 n/a Moravia Michelle Brantner $114,000 980 $145,000 n/a Port Byron Neil O'Brien $142,350 1,027 $145,000 n/a Southern Cayuga Mary K. Worth $111,968 771 $145,000 n/a Union Springs Linda M. Rice $144,612 891 $145,000 n/a Weedsport Shaun A. O'Connor $133,833 877 $145,000 n/a
Cortland County Cincinnatus Steven Hubbard $125,603 618 $135,000 n/a Cortland Larry Spring $152,036 2,709 $155,000 n/a Homer Nancy Ruscio $145,000 2,139 $155,000 n/a Marathon Timothy Turecek $118,368 788 $145,000 n/a McGraw Mary Curcio $110,000 577 $135,000 n/a
Onondaga County Baldwinsville Jeanne Dangle $182,020 5,815 $165,000 $17,020 East Syracuse Minoa Donna DeSiato $185,704 3,354 $165,000 $20,704 Fabius-Pompey Timothy Ryan $135,392 838 $145,000 n/a Fayette-ville-Manlius Corliss Kaiser $188,100 4,588 $165,000 $23,100 Jamesville-DeWitt Alice Kendrick $182,000 2,868 $155,000 $27,000 Jordan-Elbridge Lawrence J. Zacher $600 a day 1,508 $155,000 n/a LaFayette Peter Tigh $147,016 849 $145,000 $2,016 Liverpool Richard N. Johns $180,000 7,508 $175,000 $5,000 Lyncourt Michael Schiedo $114,103 304 $135,000 n/a Marcellus Craig J. Tice $169,502 1,988 $155,000 $14,502 North Syracuse Jerome F. Mel-vin $179,475 9,481 $175,000 $4,475 Onondaga Joseph A. Rotella $147,729 957 $145,000 $2,729 Skaneateles Philip D'Angelo $179,417 1,664 $155,000 $24,417 Solvay J. Francis Manning (also director of personnel) $151,591 1,571 $155,000 n/a Syracuse Daniel G. Lowengard $199,000 20,076 $175,000 $24,000 Tully Kraig Pritts $130,599 1,109 $145,000 n/a West Genesee Christopher R. Brown $174,591 5,017 $165,000 $9,591 Westhill Stephen A. Bocciolatt $176,163 1,884 $155,000 $21,163
Madison County Brookfield Steve Szatko (part time) $45,000 237 $125,000 n/a Canastota Frederick J. Bragan $147,482 1,542 $155,000 n/a Cazenovia Robert S. Dubik $148,503 1,670 $155,000 n/a Chittenango Thomas E. Mar-zeski $165,053 2,228 $155,000 $10,053 DeRuyter Charles W. Walters $121,431 420 $135,000 n/a Hamilton Diana Bowers $150,548 585 $135,000 $15,548 Madison Cynthia D. DeDominick $132,597 484 $135,000 n/a Morris-ville-Eaton Michael Drahos $128,410 759 $145,000 n/a Oneida Ronald Spadafora $154,413 2,376 $155,000 n/a Stockbridge Valley Chuck Chafee $116,978 480 $135,000 n/a
Oswego County Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Gerry Hudson $133,900 1,405 $145,000 n/a Central Square Carolyn F. Costello $158,486 4,526 $165,000 n/a Fulton William R. Lynch $153,000 3,683 $165,000 n/a Hannibal Michael J. DiFabio $138,000 1,554 $155,000 n/a Mexico Robert R. Pritchard $140,000 2,281 $155,000 n/a Oswego William W. Crist $142,000 4,164 $165,000 n/a Phoenix Judy Belfield $140,000 2,199 $155,000 n/a Pulaski Marshall Marshall $135,200 1,117 $145,000 n/a Sandy Creek Stewart Amell $150,396 894 $145,000 $5,396
Bordering districts Georgetown-Otselic Valley (Chenango County) Richard J. Hughes $108,747 388 $135,000 n/a Sherburne-Earlville (Chenango County) Gayle H. Hellert $147,760 1,461 $145,000 $2,760 Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (Oneida County) Norman J. Reed $184,570 2,100 $155,000 $29,570 Red Creek (Wayne Creek) David G. Sholes $147,227 945 $145,000 $2,227
Compiled by The Post-Standard based on data from school districts and the New York State Education Department

GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC: SUPERINTENDENTS RESIST PAY CAP The Post-Standard. Note: for text see microfilm or page archive. The dark blue portion of the salary bars shows the amount each superintendent would lose under a plan proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The three proposed salary levels would be based on district enrollments.

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