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Salaries According to KSDE


Posted Date: 04/29/2020

Ted Carter
KASB Chief Data Officer
tcarter@kasb.org

Every year the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) collects and reports data on Superintendent, Principal, and Teacher Salaries.  This includes both contracted and actual amounts.  The data, along with more specifics on how they collect the data and the definitions they use can be found here.

There are a couple of ways you can look at the average salary amounts.  The first is by district, and the second is by FTE.

Averages by district represent the average amount paid by each district regardless of how many teachers, principals, or superintendents they employ, so a district with 10 teachers would be weighed the same in the calculation as one with 1,000 teachers. This type of calculation is most useful for districts during the contract negotiations process so they can compare their annual salary increases with those of similar or neighboring districts.

Averages by FTE represent how much on average each superintendent, principal, or teacher in the state earns across districts.  This type of calculation is most useful when discussing how much teachers make in Kansas with the legislature and other policymakers.

Along with two possible kinds of averages to look at, we also have to consider the fact that KSDE provides two kinds of salary data:  contracted and actual.  Contracted amounts are reported at the beginning of each school year, and represent the amounts that districts intend to pay staff.  Actual amounts are reported for the previous school year, and represent what was ultimately paid to staff.  These amounts can differ for a variety of reasons.

Based on the two considerations above, you can have four different kinds of salary to report for the state as a whole – contracted averaged at the district level, contracted averaged by FTE, actual averaged at the district level, and actual averaged by FTE.

The following is the data on averages by district and by FTE for contracted and actual amounts.

Superintendents

  • The average contracted amount (by district and by FTE) for superintendents’ salary and fringe benefits for 2018-19 is $120,289.  This represents a 4.4% increase from the 2017-18 amount of $115,257.
  • The average actual amount (by district and by FTE) for superintendents’ salary and fringe benefits for 2017-18 was $116,916.  This represents a 2.9% increase from the 2016-17 amount of $113,642.

Principals

  • The average contracted amount by district for principals’ salary and fringe benefits for 2018-19 is $88,888.  This represents a 2.8% increase from the 2017-18 amount of $86,474.
  • The average contracted amount by FTE for principals’ salary and fringe benefits for 2018-19 is $96,567.  This represents a 4.8% increase from the 2017-18 amount of $$92,183.
  • The average actual amount by district for principals’ salary and fringe benefits for 2017-18 was $87,035.  This represents a 2.0% increase from the 2016-17 amount of $85,327.
  • The average actual amount by FTE for principals’ salary and fringe benefits for 2017-18 was $94,632.  This represents a 3.3% increase from the 2016-17 amount of $91,630.

Teachers

  • The average contracted amount by district for teachers’ salary and fringe benefits for 2018-19 is $54,661.  This represents a 3.5% increase from the 2017-18 amount of $52,832.
  • The average contracted amount by FTE for teachers’ salary and fringe benefits for 2018-19 is $59,676.  This represents a 4.4% increase from the 2017-18 amount of $57,172.
  • The average actual amount by district for teachers’ salary and fringe benefits for 2017-18 was $53,287.  This represents a 3.3% increase from the 2016-17 amount of $51,603.
  • The average actual amount by FTE for teachers’ salary and fringe benefits for 2017-18 was $58,027.  This represents a 3.7% increase from the 2016-17 amount of $55,931.

There are several things to note from the bullet points above.

First, these amounts include both salary and benefits, so some of the increases or decreases are dictated by the changing cost of healthcare as much or more than by the increases in the base salaries.

Second, the changes from year to year are partially due to the amount of annual increases for existing employees, but also by changes in staff.  New employees might be paid less than employees who retired after being with the district for many years, or they might actually be paid more depending on how their contract was negotiated.

Third, KSDE is not the only source for this kind of information.  For example, KASB also collects information on district employee salaries, and this data is collected at the state level by NCES and other national organizations.

Looking at KASB’s data:

  • According to district responses on the Superintendents survey, the average amount for superintendent salary and fringe benefits by district for 2018-19 is $121,578, which is a 2.9% increase from $118,198 in 2017-18.
  • According to district responses on the Principals survey, the average amount for principal salary and fringe benefits by district for 2018-19 is $96,785, which is a 1.7% increase from $95,184 for 2017-18.
  • According to district responses on the Teacher Contracts survey, the average amount for teacher salary and fringe benefits by district for 2018-19 is $44,395, which is a 5.4% increase from $42,108 for 2017-18.

Differences in reported amounts can come from a variety of sources, including differences in the definitions used for the data being collected, time of year collected, individuals providing the information, etc.

So, based on the information we have provided above, you could say the following:

  • From last year to this year, teachers received the highest percent increases in salary and fringe benefits in the 3.5% to 5.4% range, followed by superintendents in the 2.9% to 4.4% range and then principals in the 1.7% to 4.8% range.
  • Teacher total compensation for this year averages in the $44,000 to $60,000 range.
  • Principal total compensation for this year averages in the $88,000 to $97,000 range.
  • Superintendent total compensation for this year averages in the $120,000 to $121,000 range.

To interact with KSDE’s salary data in a tool provided by KASB, click here.  The tool allows you to look at data as far back as 2006-07.  It can be filtered by a variety of factors including district, KSHSAA class, and KASB region, and provides the data in a variety of formats.