TRENTON — A showdown over the state’s cap on school superintendents’ pay is expected today as school chiefs testify at the first of four public hearings on a measure to tie their salaries to the size of their districts.

The executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators is expected to testify against the measure at today’s hearing. The group is also considering going to court to challenge the state’s efforts to bar school boards from re-upping superintendent contracts before the salary cap takes effect Feb. 7.

The hearings — which kick off at 6 p.m. at Kean University — are required to give the public a chance to comment before the existing law is amended to limit superintendents’ pay.

Gov. Chris Christie announced plans for the controversial pay cap over the summer as a way to control rising school costs and reign in property tax hikes. Under the new rules, a superintendent’s salary would be tied to the number of students in a district — starting at $125,000 for the smallest district.

Acting Commissioner of Education Rochelle Hendricks sent a memo to county executive school superintendents Nov. 15 warning them not to attempt to renegotiate their superintendent’s salaries before the salary cap takes effect.

Hendricks ordered schools to submit all contracts to her office for review by Dec. 3. She also barred approval of any new contracts before "the submissions are fully analyzed by me and other executive staff."

The state school administrators association said Hendricks’ order is unfair.

"We will likely submit a challenge on the specific issue of the commissioner exceeding her authority in applying standards that have not been adopted yet," said Richard Bozza, executive director of New Jersey Association of School Administrators. "You can’t change the law by a memorandum."

State education department officials declined to discuss the school administrators association’s possible legal challenge.

"The commissioner called for a review. The review will be complete on Dec. 3 and we don’t have any further comment at this time," said state Education Department spokesman Alan Guenther.

The Christie administration took steps to begin the process of implementing the new salary caps two weeks ago. Because the changes would be an amendment to an existing law, the salary cap does not require action by the state Legislature. But the proposed changes were published in the New Jersey Register Nov. 1 and the new requirements must be subject to public hearings.

Bozza, executive director of the school administrators association, called the measure "poorly conceived public policy." He said it would create disincentives for aspiring superintendents to work in New Jersey and lead to many principals and other administrators earning more than their superintendents. He also said the changes could cause instability in districts.

Chatham School Superintendent Jim O’Neill is among the superintendents who plan to testify at today’s hearing. His salary is currently $210,000 — but would drop to $175,000 under the cap.

O’Neill’s current contract expires June 30, but the Chatham school board hopes to adopt a new one Dec. 13, according to a statement by the board president. The new three-year contract extension would include raises of less than two percent each year, O’Neill said.

Chatham is a high-performing district that spends about $2,000 per pupil less than the state average, he said. "I think there’s true value in that for the community," O’Neill said.

Christie’s new salary cap fails to consider the unique circumstances in each district, he added.

"I think he took a poll someplace and it said this would resonate with voters. He makes an issue of it, there’s no logical reason," O’Neill said. "He’s distorting and exaggerating facts."

All four public hearings are at 6 p.m. Today’s is at Kean Hall, 100 Morris Ave., in Union.

Others are Nov. 29 at North Warren Regional High School in Blairstown; Dec. 2 at Cumberland County College in Vineland; and Dec. 7 at Burlington County Institute of Technology in Westampton.

The Record editorial: Days of thunder

Thursday, November 18, 2010

THE PAST decade has been very good to schools superintendents when it comes to compensation. Salaries in North Jersey now average $185,120. Statewide, it's $162,560. It's is a demanding job, and many educators earn every penny — and more.

That said, we agree with Governor Christie's move to cap superintendent salaries at $175,000 annually, plus up to a 15 percent merit bonus. New Jersey property taxes are the highest in the nation, and school levies are the biggest slice of the pie. Compensation for top school brass has exploded since tenure protections for superintendents were eliminated two decades ago, creating a class of high-paid free agents. To remain competitive, local Boards of Education have been digging deep — too deep — into taxpayers' pockets to lure administrators to town. Caps can even the playing field.

The new caps don't take effect until February — but you'd hardly know it, given the governor's overreaches in recent weeks. Some school districts have decided to extend administrators' current contracts before the new rules go into effect, to promote stable leadership and exercise their right to self-govern before it disappears. In response, the state Education Department is now auditing all recently inked deals.

Meanwhile, the governor has parked himself on his bully pulpit. He has temporarily swapped out New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian with Parsippany Schools Superintendent LeRoy Seitz as Public Enemy No. 1 — even tweeting a videotaped diatribe on the subject.

Seitz's alleged crime is having been judged a valuable employee by the local school board. It recently voted to award him a five-year contract at $224,240 a year. That's a pay cut for Seitz, who reportedly earned $241,105 last year. Christie has demanded that the board rescind the offer, and announced unilaterally that the county superintendent empowered to veto the deal — under rules introduced by former Gov. Jon Corzine that also necessitated the proposed pay cut — would nix it.

The governor and Legislature can set rules on taxing and spending. But they don't call the shots locally. Christie's current heavy-handed micromanagement of contractual negotiations between superintendents and local Boards of Education is undermining the authority of both elected school officials and the state-appointed county superintendents. The people of Parsippany elected their local school board, and have the opportunity each spring to approve or reject the proposed school budget. They have rejected the last two budgets, in fact, forcing the board to tighten its belt. The board's decision on what to pay Seitz is its to make. And that goes for every school board in New Jersey. For now.

THE PAST decade has been very good to schools superintendents when it comes to compensation. Salaries in North Jersey now average $185,120. Statewide, it's $162,560. It's is a demanding job, and many educators earn every penny — and more.

That said, we agree with Governor Christie's move to cap superintendent salaries at $175,000 annually, plus up to a 15 percent merit bonus. New Jersey property taxes are the highest in the nation, and school levies are the biggest slice of the pie. Compensation for top school brass has exploded since tenure protections for superintendents were eliminated two decades ago, creating a class of high-paid free agents. To remain competitive, local Boards of Education have been digging deep — too deep — into taxpayers' pockets to lure administrators to town. Caps can even the playing field.

The new caps don't take effect until February — but you'd hardly know it, given the governor's overreaches in recent weeks. Some school districts have decided to extend administrators' current contracts before the new rules go into effect, to promote stable leadership and exercise their right to self-govern before it disappears. In response, the state Education Department is now auditing all recently inked deals.

Meanwhile, the governor has parked himself on his bully pulpit. He has temporarily swapped out New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian with Parsippany Schools Superintendent LeRoy Seitz as Public Enemy No. 1 — even tweeting a videotaped diatribe on the subject.

Seitz's alleged crime is having been judged a valuable employee by the local school board. It recently voted to award him a five-year contract at $224,240 a year. That's a pay cut for Seitz, who reportedly earned $241,105 last year. Christie has demanded that the board rescind the offer, and announced unilaterally that the county superintendent empowered to veto the deal — under rules introduced by former Gov. Jon Corzine that also necessitated the proposed pay cut — would nix it.

The governor and Legislature can set rules on taxing and spending. But they don't call the shots locally. Christie's current heavy-handed micromanagement of contractual negotiations between superintendents and local Boards of Education is undermining the authority of both elected school officials and the state-appointed county superintendents. The people of Parsippany elected their local school board, and have the opportunity each spring to approve or reject the proposed school budget. They have rejected the last two budgets, in fact, forcing the board to tighten its belt. The board's decision on what to pay Seitz is its to make. And that goes for every school board in New Jersey. For now.

The Record: Letters, Nov. 18, 2010

 A New Jersey Morality Play?

Governor Christie's salary caps culminate several years of effort by both parties to tie New Jersey school superintendents to bureaucratic excess, individual venality and educational irrelevance ("State freezes new deals for school chiefs," Page A-1, Nov. 16).

The SCI Report (2006), the Accountability Regulations (2007) and now the salary caps comprise an ongoing morality play in which Good Governors rescue Tortured Taxpayers from the talons of Folk Like Us, who responded to the incentives in place and assumed leadership positions within their chosen field of employment.

Righteous Indignation joins with Unctuous Sanctimony to paint Us on divans with brandy snifters lifted high in tribute to Gordon Gekko. This, ironically, at the same time as real deal Gekkos hijack the republic when no one is watching – or, more accurately, when all eyes are off watching Supers Supposedly Having a Ball.

Have we earned the role of The Fairly Tarred? Or, more to the political point: Do we deserve to be prosecuted for what we earn? An emphatic no to both questions.

When we first headed off years ago to Educational Leader Land, who ever thought that we'd be the bums when it came time to throw them out.

Bernard Josefsberg

Leonia, Nov. 16