What CPS Compensation Policies Say
About How Much It Values Its Principals
About a month ago, CPAA submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the full earnings of every CPS teacher (including after school and summer school earnings). What we discovered serves as a call to action for every school leader who yearns for respect from our district.
The earnings increase CPS pays to teachers who assume after-school responsibilities ($31,500).
The earnings increase CPS pays new principals who assume responsibility for an entire school community ($13,000).
We averaged the regular and supplemental earnings of the 50 teachers who worked the most additional hours. The average regular earnings for these teachers was about $88,000 while they earned an additional average of $31,500 for working supplemental hours. That increased their overall earnings to an average of $119,985.95--a substantial 36% increase for assuming afterschool responsibilities. In comparison, a typical new principal receives a $13,114 increase (from $117,098 to $130,212.60)--a meager 11% increase for assuming the responsibility of leading an entire school community.**
"A teacher can get a 36% salary increase for assuming afterschool responsibilities, while a typical new principal receives a meager 11% increase for assuming the responsibility of leading an entire school community."
This is about respect. Part of winning our fight for compensation justice involves raising awareness of how unjust and inadequate the current compensation system is. This is the first of several communications designed to expose the inadequacy of CPS' administrator compensation policies. More needs to be done, however. If you'd like to work together with your colleagues to get a more adequate and substantial compensation system in place, sign up for our Compensation and Collective Bargaining Working Group.
**Salary determined using Step 6 of the AP salary schedule. The 11% takes into account CPS's backward policy of taking away 2% ($2,657.40) of the pension contribution when an AP becomes a principal. Without the contribution loss, the earnings increase of a new principal would be a still meager 13%.
