990s of private schools

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to decide how appalled I am by how much the heads of various schools are making after looking at the 990s.

Has anyone else drilled down on this?

[Anonymous]

Just keep that in mind the next time they hit you up for annual giving.

[Anonymous]

How much do they get paid? How can I get properly worked up without a number?

[Anonymous]

Low range was $150,000

Mid range was $250,000

High range was $400,000

[Anonymous]

I am a tenth year teacher at a big 3 and make just over 70k. I imagine my head is making between 400-500k and division directors around 200k depending on size of division. Plus director of development which is somewhere between 200-300k I bet.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher. I have no problem with the head of school at my institution making a significant salary. They have to fundraise (and if they are good at it it makes a big difference); supervise large capital projects; fire people if necessary; deal with turbo-charged DC parent complaints, and much, much, more . . . And the job security is not that good -- heads lose their jobs pretty easily.

[Anonymous]

Private school heads are paid on a pre-firing basis. Hypothetically, a head gets 300K. The head will be fired every three to seven years. There may be periods of intermittent unemployment. It's like making an average of $275 per year, so they're paid roughly what a public Supt gets. The positive delta is for fund-raising. Ultimately, the school's parents/Board/alums are in charge and the head is in some respects a cosmetic anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to decide how appalled I am by how much the heads of various schools are making after looking at the 990s.

Has anyone else drilled down on this?

Curious what you think they should make.

It's a job in which they may well be in charge of hundreds of employees, eight-figure budgets, etc., in a town with very high cost of living in which first-year lawyers at large law firms make $160,000 per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school heads are paid on a pre-firing basis. Hypothetically, a head gets 300K. The head will be fired every three to seven years. There may be periods of intermittent unemployment. It's like making an average of $275 per year, so they're paid roughly what a public Supt gets. The positive delta is for fund-raising. Ultimately, the school's parents/Board/alums are in charge and the head is in some respects a cosmetic anyway.

Which DC private school fires its head every 3-7 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Low range was $150,000

Mid range was $250,000

High range was $400,000

It's certainly not a job I'd take just for the money at those numbers.... They have to spend all day deal with nutjobs like us. That seems lower than I'd expected. Sorry OP - a dissappointing lack of outrage here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school heads are paid on a pre-firing basis. Hypothetically, a head gets 300K. The head will be fired every three to seven years. There may be periods of intermittent unemployment. It's like making an average of $275 per year, so they're paid roughly what a public Supt gets. The positive delta is for fund-raising. Ultimately, the school's parents/Board/alums are in charge and the head is in some respects a cosmetic anyway.

Which DC private school fires its head every 3-7 years?

Not the original quoted poster, but I believe the NAIS average is five years.

[Anonymous]

the previous Potomac head was over 800k which i believe is the high end for this area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Low range was $150,000

Mid range was $250,000

High range was $400,000

This seems appropriate - even on the low side.