Superintendent pay excessive

The salary levels that Washington school districts are willing to pay their superintendents are out of touch with reality. We are told that new Spokane School District Superintendent Shelley Redinger’s $241,000 is somewhere in the midrange for comparable Washington school districts.

School board members should note that this salary level is in excess of many other jobs in the public sector: Army four-star general (OS 10), Navy admiral, vice president, U.S. senator, cabinet officers, Washington governor, attorney general, Spokane mayor, Spokane chief of police, and fire chief. School board members seem to have adopted the same mentality …

The salary levels that Washington school districts are willing to pay their superintendents are out of touch with reality. We are told that new Spokane School District Superintendent Shelley Redinger’s $241,000 is somewhere in the midrange for comparable Washington school districts.

School board members should note that this salary level is in excess of many other jobs in the public sector: Army four-star general (OS 10), Navy admiral, vice president, U.S. senator, cabinet officers, Washington governor, attorney general, Spokane mayor, Spokane chief of police, and fire chief. School board members seem to have adopted the same mentality as pro sports owners bidding for free agents. Unlike pro sports, one would like to see the board exercise a little restraint with public funds.

Sam Watt

Spokane