Gov to Propose Salary Cap for School Superintendents

Earlier this week Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he will propose a bill to place a cap on the salaries of school superintendents across New York State.

Under the proposal, most Nassau County superintendents would only be able to earn a maximum of $175,000 per year.

"We must wake up to the new economic reality that government must be more efficient and cut the cost of the bureaucracy," Governor Cuomo said. "We must streamline government because raising taxes is not an option. Reducing back-office overhead, administration, consultants and encouraging consolidations are the best targets to find savings."

The cap would only affect school superintendents and could only be applied after existing contracts expire. However, each individual district would have the voting power to overturn the salary cap and could do so during school budget votes.

Currently more that 33 percent of school superintendents in New York State earn more than $175,000. According to Cuomo's office, this bill has the potential of  $15 million in savings.

The cap would impose salary limits as follows:

This could directly affect the East Meadow School District, because Superintendent Louis DeAngelo currently makes $205,000. This proposal, if not overturned by the district, would take at least $30,000 per year from DeAngelo's salary, depending on which tier he is placed in. The 2009-10 enrollment was 7,372 students, which means DeAngelo would make $175,000.

Sen. Kemp Hannon, R-Garden City, says that putting a cap on salaries of superintendents is a necessary measure to take.

"Salaries of Long Island school district superintendents are among the highest in the state," Hannon said. "We can no longer afford to pay these exorbitant salaries."

Attempts to contact Superintendent Louis DeAngelo were not successful.

* Salary data is from the NYS Education Department's Administrative Compensation Information for 2010-2011