Top school officials' salaries listed Average pay for 1,500 administrative positions: More than $121,000 Wednesday, October 11, 2006 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff From the Newark superintendent at the top to a part-time Plainfield administrator at the bottom, the state yesterday released information on the salaries of more than 1,500 school administration posts. State officials said they were providing the previously available data as a way to better inform the public on the contentious issue of school administrative costs. The release follows a scathing report in March by the State Commission of Investigation on administrators' sometimes-excessive pay and perks. "We must recognize the valuable role superintendents play as the district's educational leaders, and their salaries should be reflective of that role," acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said in releasing the data. "But the public should still have ready access to that information," she said in the statement. "This new posting is the first step in an effort to increase the transparency of compensation packages." The data are limited to superintendents, assistant superintendents and business administrators, and provide no names of the officials, even though they are available through other public data bases. The report also does not include the compensation packages beyond the salaries that the SCI report cited. State officials said that information is now being collected for future releases. Leading the list was Newark Superintendent Marion Bolden, heading the state's largest district and last year pulling down a $250,700 salary. She was followed by Toms River Superintendent Michael Ritacco and Millburn school chief Richard Brodow at $216,341 and $215,000, respectively. At the bottom was Sheila Thorpe, listed as a part-time administrator at the Union County TEAMS Charter School in Plainfield and making a $1,000 salary. The average of all 1,518 positions listed was $121,397. The head of the state superintendents association criticized the release, saying it should go beyond just the top positions and other wise misrepresents school spend ing at a time when their finances are being widely debated. "This distorts the public perception of how we spend $20 billion on education in this state," said Barry Galasso, director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. "It's an isolated view and says to people, 'If you are un happy with your taxes, here's the people responsible.' "It's a discredit to the great work of some great people throughout the state," he said. Others said it was a worthy start in opening the debate over what should be spent on school leadership. Assembly Speaker Jo seph Roberts (D-Camden) has pressed for legislation that would give the state oversight of superintendents' pay as a way to save taxpayers money. "The Department of Education has given property taxpayers the keys to unlocking one of the mysteries of the local school budget," Robert said in a statement. "Residents have a right to know the salaries paid to superintendents and other top administrators." Others hoped the state would next provide guidance on how much administrators should be paid. "It may be appropriate to pay at these levels, but how does the public measure that?" said David Sciarra, director of the Education Law Center in Newark. "They really need to give the public much more information." © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.