JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As a new school year starts, Republican State Representative Ben Keathley of Chesterfield is keeping an eye on the dollars.
“I think the expectation is that students are going to receive more direct services,” he said. “Whether that be more teachers, better pay for the teachers, or other services.”
Earlier this year, Keathley wrote House Bill 2344, which passed through committee. It would allow a superintendent’s salary to be no more than 5.5 times that of a minimum teacher’s salary in the same district. The minimum teacher pay in Missouri is $40,000, so if a district paid that rate, the superintendent’s salary would be capped at $220,000.
But according to state data from 2023, several in the St. Louis area far surpass that. Hazelwood’s superintendent made $293,438 last year. Parkway C-2’s superintendent salary is listed at $294,825. Kirkwood R-VII, Rockwood R-VI, and Ladue all had superintendent salaries of more than $260,000.
“I think growing the administrative states within the schools around all of that doesn’t have any direct impact (or) has marginal impact on the students themselves,” Keathley said.
“There is nothing more important than a quality teacher in a classroom, but you need to have somebody who’s going to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and superintendents are hired to do just that,” David Luther, director of communications for the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA), said.
MASA believes the state government should not put limits on school funding.
“You’re getting away from something our association and many other school associations feel strongly about, and that’s local control,” Luther said.
He says retaining experienced leaders is a struggle for districts. He says this school year, there were 87 superintendent openings across the state. Sixty-one of those roles were filled with first-year superintendents.
“It’s a tough job in the first year. It’s tough to do the things that we talked about to have that vision and develop that culture when you need to learn your community,” Luther said.
Keathley’s bill passed committee but has no future vote scheduled at this point.
