Anonymous wrote:

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.

But the head is the one who hires the the division leads. We have seen this over time at multiple schools and the HOS's that make the best hiring decisions of the division heads and has strong leadership messaging on what they want those heads to emphasize in hiring are doing the best job. The entire culture of a school should flow down from the HOS. The school where the HOS was mostly doing fundraising and not doing a good job at being a leader on messaging for the tone of the school and the focus of the division heads and mission on hiring teachers - leads a school that rests on its laurels of reputation and has led to unhappy experiences for students and a complete lack of community. If your HOS just chases money for fundraising and DC power players for prestige, they are NOT doing a good job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find none of this to be a problem?

I can’t believe an assistant head of school is only being paid 130

The issue is the discrepancy between HOS pay and teacher pay, especially when the teachers do the most important work in the school.

A school can survive without a ton of admin. It can’t survive without teachers.

Teachers can barely crack 100k. And they do the real work.

New poster. What I can tell you is that HOS in this area and some others are grossly overpaid. Most are not professionals in finance, law, or any other area outside of education or the arts. Do they have some knowledge or skills of those areas? Yes, but so do most professionals who move up the business ladder. It comes with the territory.

You could certainly find a good person to be HOS for less than 1M dollars. That salary is significantly more than any Superintendent in the area makes and they are responsible for more students, staff, buildings, operations, etc.

Anyone believes that teachers are only managing classrooms obviously doesn’t know much about their schools. Who do you think is manage school clubs? Who do you think in most schools are the head of departments? Who is writing recommendations letters for college, internship programs, new schools if desired?

Should HOS be payed well? Absolutely! Is the difference between their salary and the staff too great? Absolutely? The same paradigm exist in corporate america and we can already see people getting more and more fed up about it.

The HOS at my kids' school makes $550K and has free housing. A salary in the $300Ks seems like a steal.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Exactly. Department chairs (teachers) do the hiring and lead departments. They do the day-to-day work of making sure instruction is excellent. The HOS? He sits in an office and thinks about money.

Perhaps we should pay department heads more.