Northville Superintendent Among Top Paid in Michigan

Editor's Note: The Mackinac Center acknowledges that some numbers in its superintendent salary database released this past week may be incorrect. Michael Van Beek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy said the center is working on collecting information from district officials who say the information in the database is incorrect and will update, if necessary. "We relied on data districts provided on their Web site, but some of that data was outdated," Van Beek said in an email to Patch. A previous version of this story stated Gallagher's base salary is $180,000, but it did not reflect concessions taken the past two school years. Her actual salary is
$171,366.

According to a new database compiled by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and using 2012 salary information provided by school districts throughout the state, Mary Kay Gallagher has a reported base salary of $171,366.

Due to mistakes in the Center's database, Gallagher's total compensation, including insurance, pension, annuity, travel and other expenses, is unkown at this time.

Gallagher's contract is due to expire June 30, 2014, and the district's enrollment was 7,302 students in 2012. 

"While compensation for superintendents only amounts to about 1 percent of public school spending, the public should have easy access to this particular information,” said Michael Van Beek, Mackinac Center director of education policy, in a press release. “As CEOs of districts and often the highest paid government employee in a local community, superintendent pay deserves an extra level of public scrutiny."

The superintendent of Wayne-Westland Community Schools is the highest paid in Wayne County with a total compensation of $273,875 with an enrollment of 13,031 students in 2012.

Utica Community Schools' superintendent is the highest paid in the state with a total compensation of $300,789 and an enrollment of 29,541 in 2012.

See how other local districts compare:

• Novi Community Schools -$233,128
• Farmington Public Schools - $277,867
• Livonia Public Schools - $251,684
• Bloomfield Hills Schools - $259,763
• Birmingham Schools - $253,396
• Brighton Schools - $183,683
• Rochester Community Schools - $235,679
• South Lyon Community Schools - $259,260
• Troy Schools - $273,615
• Walled Lake Schools - $269,565
• West Bloomfield Schools - $230,798

Note: The numbers above represent the worth of each superintendent's total compensation package. Superintendents earn an average salary of $115,000 in Michigan, according to the database.

See the full database at http://www.mackinac.org/depts/epi/salary.aspx.