As of May 2009, the last certified contracts posted on the Little Rock School District website, 32 administrators made over $100,000 a year.

Of these, 14 were principals, averaging $108,666 for an eleven month contract. Eighteen (18) were central administrators.

Central administrators making over $100,000 per year, excluding the superintendent, averaged $110,689.647 in salary, plus $2,484 in annual stipend(s).

Remember, these numbers are from over three years ago.

Every school district is required to post their contracts publicly. Unfortunately, few citizens are aware that these numbers are available.

Principals who are delivering excellence in their respective schools are worth every penny and more. Those who are not, are not.

It becomes more difficult to quantify the value of central administrators, though one could reasonably argue that the overall performance of the district doesn’t seem to match the number of highly compensated individuals. Again, if the district were delivering excellence to all students, the number of highly compensated administrators could be justified. But since it’s not…

At $33,285 for a 9.25 month contract, starting teacher salaries in the Little Rock School District rank 76th in Arkansas. One has to wonder where Little Rock’s administrators rank.

Annually, we see the salaries of the highest compensated state employees posted in the media. In fairness, perhaps it’s time to post local government (school, city, county) salaries over $100,000 as well.