Although Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul G. Vallas may have the most difficult school superintendent’s job in Illinois–that of turning around the performance of the state’s largest school district–he isn’t nearly the most highly paid superintendent in the state. While Vallas was paid $160,500 during the 1996-97 school year to oversee more than 430,000 elementary and high school students and more than 22,000 teachers at 563 Chicago public schools, Superintendent John E. Cahill was paid almost $30,000 more, a total of $190,124, to oversee just 1,359 elementary school students and 128 teachers at four schools in Lincolnwood Elementary School District 74.
In addition to Cahill, six other school superintendents in Chicago suburban school districts receive salaries that exceed Vallas’. According to data obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education by the Daily Herald, salaries for the 150 highest-paid Illinois school superintendents exceeded $109,000; those for the top 100 exceeded $117,000; those for the top 25 exceeded $141,000; and those for the top 10 exceeded $148,000. All told, 850 administrators oversee the state’s more than 1,000 school districts.
Under the terms of a school reform measure approved by state legislators last December, school administrator salaries in the future may be based on student performance on tests administered under the Illinois Goals Assessment Program. The linkage is an outgrowth of concern over a dramatic fall in IGAP reading scores since 1993, with tenth-grade scores falling 17 percent, and sixth- and eighth-grade scores dropping 14 percent. (See “‘Precipitous’ Drop Seen in Illinois Reading Scores,” School Reform News, November 1997.)
| The Highest Paid Illinois School Superintendents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Salary | No. of Students | No. of Schools | Superintendent | District |
| 1. | $190,124 | 1,358 | 4 | John E. Cahill | Lincolnwood Elementary District 74 |
| 2. | $174,753 | 11,200 | 6 | John Ashenfelter | Northwest Suburban High School District 214 |
| 3. | $167,570 | 2,642 | 4 | Jacob Broncato | Elmwood Park Unit District 401 |
| 4. | $167,029 | 4,100 | 2 | Jean B. McGrew | Northfield Township High School District 225 |
| 5. | $164,090 | 3,300 | 6 | Sam Mikaelian | Wilmette Elementary School District 39 |
| 6. | $161,321 | 3,200 | 2 | Jack B. Schoenholtz | Leyden High School District 212 |
| 7. | $160,500 | 430,380 | 563 | Paul G. Vallas | Chicago Public Schools |
| 8. | $148,972 | 2,700 | 6 | Lawrence J. Golden | Marquardt Elementary School District 15 |
| 9. | $148,825 | 2,600 | 4 | Douglas C. Parks | Aptakisic-Tripp Unit District 102 |
| 10. | $148,587 | 2,200 | 3 | Robert Piwko | Palos Elementary School District 118 |
George A. Clowes is managing editor of School Reform News. His email address is [email protected].
George Clowes is former Heartland senior fellow addressing education policy. He served as founding managing editor of School Reform News between November 1996 and January 2005.
