January 26, 2025
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
Sen. Margo Juarez
Sen. Jana Hughes, Vice Chairperson
Sen. Dan Lonowski
Sen. Danielle Conrad
Sen. Glen Meyer
Sen. Megan Hunt
Sen. Rita Sanders
I am writing today on behalf of Lincoln Public Schools in opposition to LB 300, which would impose a limit on Superintendent compensation to five times that of a beginning teacher. LB300 would artificially impose a cap on Superintendent pay that is not reflective of market realities and the need to set compensation for the top school official in a district in a manner that is competitive with market demands and an understanding of the limited number of highly qualified candidates for this demanding leadership position.
The adoption of LB300 would be to the considerable detriment of local control and the introduced version of this bill fails to acknowledge key variables at a local level and the fact that circumstances and compensation package needs vary widely across diverse Nebraska public school districts. The maintenance of local control and the decision-making authority of the local Board of Education is one of the
fundamental legislative guidelines adopted by the LPS Board. In addition, the proposed bill also conflicts with the LPS Board’s long-standing commitment to be able to make determinations regarding compensation in a manner favorable to the recruitment and retention of high-quality staff. In an educator shortage environment that impacts all educator workforce positions including administrative and superintendent roles, local districts need to retain the decision-making authority to set salary and benefits to draw the best, most qualified and capable candidates.
The Lincoln Public Schools is one of the largest metropolitan school districts in the United States, and the second largest public school system in Nebraska. As such, when LPS is searching for a superintendent, the executive compensation for this position must be commensurate with the scope of job duties and responsibilities for a district serving over 42,000 students and employing over 7000 staff members. Furthermore, in a competitive national pool of candidates for the superintendency, we must consider a comparability range of compensation that is competitive with similar districts nationally.
National educational organizations such as AASA have found that state-imposed salary caps are more detrimental than beneficial. Short-term “savings” are wiped out by higher turnover and a lower ability to recruit top talent. Salary caps could prove more costly than beneficial, AASA’s Ellerson Ng said.
In conclusion, the Lincoln Public Schools board is in opposition to LB 300 as proposed by Senator Murman. We urge the Education Committee to respect the latitude of local boards of education to best make determinations about Superintendent Pay, including salary and total compensation. We respectfully ask the Committee to indefinitely postpone this legislation.
Sincerely,
Korby Gilbertson
representing Lincoln Public Schools
