This study aims to uncover trends in superintendent pay and turnover in system leadership by examining the characteristics of urban school district superintendents within the Councils’ current member districts. The report focuses on understanding the racial and gender demographics of superintendents, the prevalence of turnover within demographic groups as well as the relationship between superintendent and district characteristics and superintendent’s base salaries. By addressing these questions, the Council seeks to provide some insight that may inform conversation on the challenges facing urban school district leadership and inform strategies to promote stability and effectiveness in urban district leadership roles.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The focal point of this report was to examine possible relationships between superintendent characteristics, the characteristics of the districts they lead, and elements of the position likely impacted by the pandemic: superintendent base pay and turnover rates among district leaders. The overall goal of this work was to garner a greater understanding of the changes in the position across Council of the Great City Schools (“Council” or “CGCS”) member districts and to make comparisons—where possible—between the status of the workforce pre- and post-pandemic. This report also considered the often-noted disparities in pay, hiring, and retention at the superintendent level along the lines of gender. Listed below are some key findings:

OVERALL CHANGES IN DEMOGRAPHICS OF URBAN SUPERINTENDENTS.
• The pool of CGCS district superintendents has become increasingly diverse over the last 20 years, reflecting more of the diversity of student populations, with Black and Hispanic superintendents making up the majority of system leaders.

• Hispanic females have not seen significant benefits from the demographic shifts in urban superintendent roles.

SUPERINTENDENT SALARY WAS DETERMINED TO BE AFFECTED BY MANY OF THE FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSES.
• Being a leader of a larger CGCS district was associated with having a larger base salary.

• In smaller districts (under 35,000), the majority of superintendents are Black. In the largest districts (greater than 100,000), half of superintendents are Hispanic, while nearly half of superintendents in mid-sized districts (50,000- 100,000) are White, potentially reflecting racial disparities in salary. No meaningful differences in salary between female superintendents and male superintendents were found among those leading CGCS districts.

• District leader salaries were not found to differ meaningfully when considering the representation of economically disadvantaged students in district populations. • There was no meaningful difference in superintendent salary when considering school board types (i.e., appointed school boards, elected school boards).

THERE WERE FEWER FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERINTENDENT TURNOVER.
•  Being a leader of a larger Council district was associated with higher rates of turnover. • Being a leader of a CGCS district with lower representation of economically-disadvantaged students was associated with higher rates of turnover at the superintendent position.

• Higher post-pandemic salary was associated with higher rates of superintendent turnover.