CCPS administrators salaries
What's the truth about CCPS administrators' salaries?

FAQ: The truth about CCPS administrators’ salaries

The topic of administration salaries keeps popping up and, while it isn’t relevant to the discussion of funding public education in Cecil County and the attempts to vilify people who are doing the jobs they were hired to do disgusts me, it is public information so here are some more facts to add to the conversation:

According to the Maryland Department of Education, Cecil County Public Schools’ superintendent Dr. D’Ette Devine’s salary is $169,868. This salary ranks 16th out of 24 school systems in the state. CCPS chief financial officer Thomas Kappra’s salary is $149,262, ranking 7th out of 16 systems with such a position.

As you can see, these salaries are in-line with those of their peers within Maryland.

Maryland Superintendent Salaries, 2013-14

Since Cecil County borders the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania and more than half of our residents commute outside the county for work, it’s appropriate to compare their salaries to those in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Delaware

  • Freeman Williams, superintendent of the Christina School District, $192,088.36 (salary plus other compensation) source
  • Matthew Burrows, superintendent of the Appoquinimink School District, 152,660.02

    Pennsylvania

    • Augustus Massaro, superintendent of the Avon Grove School District, $213,825 source
    • Barry Tomaseti, superintendent of the Kennett School District, $195,000

    Compensating Experienced Professionals

    Now, I don’t know the specifics of determining appropriate salaries for professionals such as Dr. Devine and Mr. Kappra but we can be sure the process takes into account factors like the candidate’s level of education, professional certifications, and work experience as well as the responsibility of the position for which they are being hired.
Let’s see–they’re responsible for more than 15,000 students and 2,000 employees–that’s a huge responsibility. And, if you think cutting expenses while maintaining as many jobs and services as possible and increasing performance metrics doesn’t require above average skills and talents, stop reading now because you’re more out of touch than I thought. These two are on their game–they have to be because the school system can’t fail. There hasn’t been a question I’ve asked that they haven’t been able to answer–with facts and third party support–and I ask a lot of questions.

Median Household Incomes

Those who are making this an issue in an attempt to outrage the uninformed compare these administrators’ salaries to the Cecil County median household income of $66,689. What they fail to point out is that this is considerably lower than the Maryland median income of $73,538 and Harford County median income of $80,622. source Are there families in Cecil County who are hurting financially? You bet, but you are pointing fingers in the wrong direction. Educating our children and creating communities that they want to come back to after graduating from college, where they want to buy homes and raise their children, is our best hope at improving the quality of life and economy of the county.

Higher Education isn’t a Cure-All, But it is Start

A bachelor’s degree isn’t a free pass to a higher wage but you stand a much better chance with that paper in hand. In Cecil County 22.2% of residents over 25 have at  least a bachelor’s degree, significantly lower than the Maryland state ratio of 36.8% or the Harford County ratio of 32.7%. source
If you want the children of Cecil County to succeed, you’ve got to invest in education–and compensate the professionals who make that happen.