L.A. Unified OKs 14% Pay Hike for Administrators

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a new contract providing average salary and benefit raises of about 14% to the 2,200 members of the district’s administrators union.

The board voted 4 to 1 for the three-year pact, which covers principals, assistant principals and some central office administrators.

Board member Mike Lansing, who opposed the 15% salary and benefit raise given to teachers in February, dissented. But board member Caprice Young, who joined Lansing and board President Genethia Hayes in opposing the teachers’ contract, supported the raise for administrators. Hayes was absent Tuesday, and board member Victoria Castro abstained.

“We need to be sure principals are compensated at a level where they continue to want to be principals,” Young said. “It’s one of the hardest jobs in the district.”

Young also said she thinks more needs to be done to hold principals accountable for schools’ success.

The administrators’ compensation package, retroactive to July 1, includes average salary increases of 10.5% and a 1.8% increase in the cost of the current medical benefits. In addition, a one-time 2% bonus paid last year will be added to the salary schedule. The average elementary school principal’s salary will increase from $83,458 to $92,221. The pay of high school principals will rise, on average, from $94,148 to $103,563.

The three-year contract will cost the district $18 million. The funds have already been allocated in the budget and would require no cuts in instructional programs.