Raises for State Education Administrators Drive Fair Compensation Conversation
Commissioner of Education’s Salary Revealed
The Comptroller’s Office confirmed the annual salaries of Commissioner of Education Betty Rosa and State University of New York Chancellor John King Jr. at $489,000 and $875,000, respectively, as of February 2025. This far exceeds the $250,000 salary received by Gov. Kathy Hochul, the highest wage of any U.S. governor.
Comparison to Average New Yorker’s Salary
Other top executive branch officials—like leaders at the Departments of Labor, Agriculture, Financial Services, and Environmental Conservation, and the Offices of the Attorney General and Comptroller—earned below $245,000, though some get extra perks like monthly housing allowances or pensions. Associated judges on New York’s top court, meanwhile, earn $257,500 annually, according to the National Center for State Courts.
Pay Hikes for Education Administrators
The compensation for Rosa and King, including pay hikes authorized last fall, far exceed that of the average New Yorker. Rosa’s current salary includes a recent $155,000 raise on top of a reported $120,000 pension, bringing her total annual take-home pay over $600,000. And including King’s monthly $15,000 housing allowance—$180,000 per year—puts his clear of a million.
Lawmakers React to High Salaries
Some lawmakers openly criticized using public funds on such high salaries while most New Yorkers struggle with daily expenses. Democratic State Sen. James Skoufis, for example, slammed the well-paid SUNY Chancellor for taking a public job while seeking a millionaire’s salary. He vowed to reintroduce legislation in the Senate requiring both legislative chambers and the Division of Budget (DOB) to approve salary changes for senior education officials.
Skoufis argued, “King further tried to conceal the pickpocketing from public view. While New Yorkers bust their asses trying to make ends meet in the state—and his own SUNY students work the night shift to afford their bills—the Chancellor feels he should make nearly four times the salary of the state’s governor. This is elitist. This is offensive.”
Alternative Solution
Republican State Sen. Jake Ashby floated a different method for controlling future pay hikes for state department heads. He plans to recommend requiring two-thirds of state senators’ approval to authorize any salary higher than the governor’s. His second theoretical bill would set a state residency rule for the SUNY Chancellor.
“If you don’t think it’s a job worth moving for, I don’t know what to tell you,” Ashby said. “Very, very few of my constituents earn $180,000 per year. That’s his housing stipend for when he’s not at his mansion in Maryland? How do you even spend $15,000 per month on secondary housing? That’s not something anyone should be able to support in good faith.”
Other Perspectives
The Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), a public education advocacy group, defended Rosa, a Latina, noting that many high-level education administrators still earn more than she does. They urged lawmakers to treat all public servants equally and address other pay gaps among state employees.
“There are many highly paid administrators in public education in our State,” read part of a joint statement from AQE Co-Executive Directors Marina Marcou-O’Malley and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari. “Commissioner Rosa’s compensation having attracted so much attention while other highly paid administrators have been quietly taking their salaries for years, unquestioned, speaks volumes. They are questioning whether Commissioner Rosa deserves a raise, when they should be asking why she was ever paid any less. The fact that she was making less than district superintendents across the state is not an oversight, it is an inequity that demands attention.”
Conclusion
The debate surrounding the salaries of state education administrators highlights the need for a fair compensation conversation in New York. As lawmakers consider pay hikes for senior officials, they should also address the pay gaps among state employees. By promoting transparency and fairness in compensation, we can ensure that public servants are valued and supported in their important work.
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