East Brunswick, Old Bridge paying higher salaries

East Brunswick, Old Bridge
paying higher salaries
Report cards show
differences in salaries,
levels of experience
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

School report cards issued by the state last week show area teachers earning nearly twice as much in some area schools as in others.

The report cards issued by the state Department of Education (DOE) show figures, from financial facts to student test results, for the 2002-03 school year.

The reports show that while East Brunswick had a greater student-to-administrator ratio than the state average, school administrators and teachers were paid more than most neighboring districts.

The median salary — meaning half the salaries are above it and half are below — for administrators in East Brunswick was $101,472 in the 2002-03 school year. That was about $6,000 more than the state median. The median salary for teachers in East Brunswick was $64,087, as opposed to the state median of $50,002.

East Brunswick did have a slight advantage in that its teachers and administrators tended to have more experience than those in other districts. The years of experience administrators in East Brunswick had was one more year than the state median, and teachers had two years more.

In terms of salary growth, the median salary for administrators in 2000-01 was $90,284, which rose by more than $10,000 in the next two years. The state median in those two years rose by about $5,000.

The median salary for teachers in New Jersey decreased over two years, while East Brunswick’s went up almost $2,000.

As far as what percentage of the budget teachers’ salaries and benefits took up, East Brunswick spent 57 percent of its expenditures on teachers, while the state average was 55 percent.

The salaries and benefits of administrators made up 9 percent of East Brunswick’s budget, while the state average was 8 percent, according to the report cards.

East Brunswick, however, had a high student-to-administrator ratio. According to the report card, the school district had about 259 students for each administrator. The state average was about 165 students per administrator.

The district also had a higher number of faculty members relative to administrators. East Brunswick had almost 22 faculty members for each administrator, while the state average was about 15.

Another large school district is Old Bridge, which has four more schools than East Brunswick.

The median salary for teachers in Old Bridge was $56,416 — about $8,000 less than East Brunswick. The median number of years teaching in Old Bridge was 14, a year more than East Brunswick.

However, East Brunswick teachers had more educational background. In Old Bridge, 67.5 percent of the teachers had a bachelor’s degree, but only about 30 percent had a master’s and just 2.6 percent had a doctorate in philosophy or doctorate in education.

In terms of the median salary for administrators, East Brunswick was lower than Old Bridge by about $3,000.

Old Bridge also spent more of its budget on teacher salaries and benefits, at 61 percent.

The median salaries in other nearby communities were lower than in either East Brunswick or Old Bridge.

In Sayreville, the median salary for teachers was $52,725; in Monroe, $45,690; in South River, $44,970; and Spotswood, $38,865.

However, teachers’ experience was slightly lower in those school districts than in East Brunswick.

Also, the percentage of the budget taken up by teachers’ salaries and benefits was higher in each of those towns except Spotswood and Monroe, which were both at 53 percent.

The median salary for administrators was lower in all the other communities, especially in South River and Spotswood where that figure was about $82,000.

Catherine Schwartz, president of the East Brunswick Education Association, defended the salaries of East Brunswick’s teachers.

"I certainly feel that the teachers in the district are well worth the salaries they are paid," she said.

She noted that teacher salaries in this part of New Jersey tend to be higher than those in the south, for instance.

The percentage of teachers with more than a bachelor’s degree is also high in East Brunswick, and rightfully adds to the teachers’ worth, Schwartz said.

Half the teaching staff, she said, has reached the "career salary" mark, the highest section of the teachers’ salary guide. Those teachers have each been in the district at least 13 years.

That amount of tenure brings continuity to the staff, and also means the teachers want to be in the district, Schwartz said.

It used to take more than 13 years to reach the top of the guide, she said, but that was shortened to attract teachers.

The number of years it takes to reach the higher end of the guide also affects the average salary level. In East Brunswick, as opposed to many other school districts, teachers need less time before reaching the higher guides, she noted.