Tuition seem high?? Curious of the Salary of the Head of Your School? Do your research. Here is how.

[Anonymous]

A certain area HOS was paid $1 million last year by their previous school to go away. And now is making $600k plus at their new school - failing up works!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A certain area HOS was paid $1 million last year by their previous school to go away. And now is making $600k plus at their new school - failing up works!

That is sooooo depressing

[Anonymous]

IMHO, HOS should be paid like 1M/yr because it is such a difficult job. My non-profit employer CEO was paid 3.9M in 2023, CFO got 1.8M, and CIO received 1.5M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, HOS should be paid like 1M/yr because it is such a difficult job. My non-profit employer CEO was paid 3.9M in 2023, CFO got 1.8M, and CIO received 1.5M.

It's disgusting how much non-profit executives make. Non-profit really means run for the benefit of executives rather than shareholders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, HOS should be paid like 1M/yr because it is such a difficult job. My non-profit employer CEO was paid 3.9M in 2023, CFO got 1.8M, and CIO received 1.5M.

It's disgusting how much non-profit executives make. Non-profit really means run for the benefit of executives rather than shareholders

Why is it disgusting how much non-profit executives make? For profit executives make similar or greater salaries. Non-profit does not mean the work is easier or non-essential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume that one reason you are sending your child to a private school is for the quality of the experience. Perhaps even a world class educational experience. Always amazes me that people want an exceptional experience but think the leader of the organization should not be compensated as such. I promise you your head of school could make far more in a different role.

I actually worry more about how well the teachers are being compensated. They are the ones doing the actual work of the school, not the HOS.

Happy teachers affect my child. Whether the HOS is there doesn’t have as much impact.

- parent AND teacher

I am all for robust compensation for teachers. However, I have seen this simplistic, naive argument written here a million times, the argument that "real" work is being done by the teachers and administrators don't contribute much. Administrators are career professionals in finance or HR or Law, it takes intelligence, skill, leadership, experience to manage the funds, to manage the board and parents and staff. These professionals don't come cheap as they juggle a hundred balls in the air, so yes they will continue to command excellent pay.

Teachers on the other hand only need to focus on managing their classroom, there is simply no comparison. Should teachers be paid more? Absolutely. Should administrators be paid less? Absolutely not, that is if you want competent people managing and running an organization.

HOS should make a lot. Way more than teachers. Their job is much harder. In this market a good HOS is worth at least 500k.

The HOS job is not 10x harder than a teacher’s job, so they shouldn’t be making 10x teacher salaries.

I know DCUM loves to lick the boots of leadership as a general rule, though.

[Anonymous]

HOS shouldn’t make as much as they do. They deal with some shitty situations, tough choices, and have to sell the school. But the teachers really make the school. They have the daily parent & student interactions, community building, support systems, etc all on their back. Maybe some HOS are really integrated into school life but most aren’t. Schools need to pay their teachers more to compensate for all of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HOS shouldn’t make as much as they do. They deal with some shitty situations, tough choices, and have to sell the school. But the teachers really make the school. They have the daily parent & student interactions, community building, support systems, etc all on their back. Maybe some HOS are really integrated into school life but most aren’t. Schools need to pay their teachers more to compensate for all of that.

Exactly.

People pick schools for the quality of the teachers more than they do the quality of a HOS. The teachers matter. The HOS? Not so much.

[Anonymous]

This is nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HOS shouldn’t make as much as they do. They deal with some shitty situations, tough choices, and have to sell the school. But the teachers really make the school. They have the daily parent & student interactions, community building, support systems, etc all on their back. Maybe some HOS are really integrated into school life but most aren’t. Schools need to pay their teachers more to compensate for all of that.

The HOS is the one that makes sure division leadership is strong and that teachers are excellent. They also raise the money beyond tuition that keeps your school running. The best also set the tone and culture at your school.

[Anonymous]

It's culturally irresponsible to have a two tiered oligarchical system that segregates rich people from working people in America. You people should be ashamed about where you are driving this country.

[Anonymous]

It should be no surprise that these forums are going to see defenders of wildly inequitable compensation.

Similarly, independent schools are privilege hoarding institutions. Keep the elite in the elite is their basic mission. Teachers should not be surprised that labor and compensation models reflect that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, HOS should be paid like 1M/yr because it is such a difficult job. My non-profit employer CEO was paid 3.9M in 2023, CFO got 1.8M, and CIO received 1.5M.

I wouldn't pay $50k a year if that was the case and I certainly wouldn't donate to any non-profit that pays their leadership that much.

I'm not saying it's not a difficult job but I am saying that I am not willing to subsidize that level of extravagence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HOS shouldn’t make as much as they do. They deal with some shitty situations, tough choices, and have to sell the school. But the teachers really make the school. They have the daily parent & student interactions, community building, support systems, etc all on their back. Maybe some HOS are really integrated into school life but most aren’t. Schools need to pay their teachers more to compensate for all of that.

The HOS is the one that makes sure division leadership is strong and that teachers are excellent. They also raise the money beyond tuition that keeps your school running. The best also set the tone and culture at your school.

Not these days. In 2024, a head mostly fundraises. It's the division heads and individual departments that choose the candidates and the head approves them.

[Anonymous]

As usual this discourse is filled with wildly misinformed assumptions and broad-brush comments.