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Some Alabama school principals are no longer the highest-paid person in their buildings.
With big pay increases for experienced Alabama’s K-12 teachers – as high as $88,000 for a teacher with 35 years of experience – some principals believe their salaries are falling short, state Superintendent Eric Mackey told officials recently.
Two principals in Chilton County schools asked board members there to increase their pay at a July 19 meeting.
The Alabama Education Lab took a look at principal salaries statewide for the 2021-22 school year using data provided by the Alabama Department of Education.
Scroll down to see your district’s average pay and the top 30 highest-paid principals in Alabama.
Alabama’s average principal salaries by school district varied widely, from a low of $74,300 in Wilcox County schools to $124,000 in Saraland City schools.
At the school level, the salary of a full-time principal ranged from $61,153 in Hale County to $158,300 in Hoover City Schools.
The average public school principal salary statewide was $97,635 for the 2021-22 school year. That includes county, city and charter schools at all grade levels.
That’s an increase of 11% from five years ago when the average Alabama principal’s salary was $88,200.
By comparison, the average Alabama teacher’s salary was up 6%, from $49,835 to $53,903, during the same time period.
However, that average can vary widely by district, subject and experience. Some districts are paying $95,000 for highly experienced and educated teachers.
Keep in mind that teacher salaries reflect years of experience and the highest degree obtained and most are paid from the state’s minimum salary schedule.
The Southern Regional Education Board tracks compensation for educators. President Stephen Pruitt said teacher compensation has gotten better, but there’s still work to be done. Given the challenges educators have endured the last two and a half years, schools should look at ways to better support teachers as professionals, he said.
“The responsibilities of both principals and teachers have only expanded during the pandemic,” Pruitt said. “Students and educators alike have faced trauma in the past two years from isolation, family illness or economic stress–or all of those.”
The role of a principal has changed through the years, and principals do a lot more than manage operations in a school building.
“Principals do have an awesome level of responsibility,” Pruitt said. “Keeping students safe, managing teachers and staff, ensuring students are succeeding, and working with families.”
Across the country, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, principals earned an average of $102,760. That data includes all principals at the elementary, middle and high school level in both public and private schools.
The median pay, BLS reports, was $98,870 in May 2021, for local schools and $79,780 for private schools. Other management occupations earn a similar annual salary, according to BLS.
In Alabama in the same time period, BLS reported K-12 school principals earned an average of $84,510, The median pay was $78,910. BLS does not separate public and private school principals at the state level.
Among the professions earning around the same median wage were speech-language pathologists, some public relations specialists, some accountants and auditors and some mechanical engineers.
The data provided by the state department is a snapshot of the annual salary of the principal who was employed as principal in October 2021. An unknown number of principals may have retired during the school year, while principal contracts are typically renewed in June or July for the coming school year.
This chart shows the average principal salary for each of Alabama’s school districts and charter schools.
Pay typically differs among schools based on grade level.
High school principals have the highest average salary at $104,206. Middle school principals have the next highest at $99,127. Elementary principals on average make $94,522.
Of the more than 1,300 principals statewide, here are the 30 highest-paid principals in Alabama. Note that all but four work in a city school district or a charter school.
*The state’s data did not list a principal for Vestavia Hills High School but listed two principals for Liberty Park Middle School. The public information officer for the district said the Liberty Park Middle School principal’s salary was $117,300.00. The ALSDE confirmed the high school principal’s salary was $149,725
Back to school 2022: Here are the highest-paid principals in Alabama - AL.com
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