TRENTON, N.J. – On Friday and without much fanfare, Governor Phil Murphy ended one of former Governor Chris Christie’s education reforms: the $191,584 superintendent salary cap.
Murphy signed S-692 eight years after Christie established a $175,000 cap which the Republican governor later raised to $191,584 in his final year in office.
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Critics say the cap hampered districts in obtaining and retaining top level talent and failed to control costs. They also cited loopholes in the cap which they say rendered it ineffective.
Proponents counter that it was a critical tool in helping keep school administrative costs under control, one that should’ve have been improved rather than scrapped.
Superintendents – some of whom earned over $200,000 despite the cap – can now earn as much (or as little) as districts want to pay them though the new law does contain some new curbs on perks including performance-based bonuses.
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