Carole Hankin, Syosset Superintendent, Takes Home $500,000 In Pay And Perks

As the debate over education budget cuts escalates across the country, one New York Superintendent, Carole Hankin, has garnered attention for the amount of zeros on her paycheck.

The New York Post reports Hankin pulls in over $500,000 in salary and benefits from her job as Syosset Central School District Superintendent, a position she's held for 21 years.

She manages a posh Long Island school district, where families' expensive homes spell out big bucks for education funding.

According to the New York Post,

Carole Hankin -- who oversees 6,687 kids in 10 schools -- is the highest-paid in the state with $506,322 in total compensation. She collects a $386,868 salary, $67,454 in fringe benefits and $52,000 in retirement funds and expenses including use of a "late model car," plus gas.

Hankin's salary rivals President Obama's annual $400,000 paycheck.

Her income may soon be reduced, however, under New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to cap state superintendent salaries.

According to CNN, Cuomo is pushing for a maximum pay of $175,000 for superintendents of the largest school districts in the state, with leaders of smaller districts maxing out at $125,000.

Comments

[Tom Iarossi]

09:29 AM on 03/16/2011

I think we can get distracted by the sheer size of this. On the one hand, Syosset is a very expensive place, the residents can afford it, and she's been on the job for 21 years. The Syosset school district as a budget of over $100 million and the average teacher salary is over $79k per year I mean, it's expensive to do anything in the NYC area. Even as a taxpayer I have no problem with paying teachers that much.

On the other hand, it can distract us from the real issue, which is the war on public education. Forces on the right won't be happy until they have tax money paying for vouchers to send kids to private schools regardless of religious or political affiliation. They are perfectly willing to pour more and more money on corporations - those who benefit from an educated workforce - through tax breaks and deferments, but try to balance budgets on the backs of teachers and students, not considering the effect of NOT investing in education. And they're more focused on breaking teacher unions than they are about saving money.

The fight is not in Syosset County. It's across the country.

[Paul Andrews]

02:56 AM on 03/15/2011

How do I get a job like this ? Hahaha

[dblueII]

01:38 AM on 03/15/2011

I'll get the tar, you get the feathers.

[Paul Andrews]

02:51 AM on 03/15/2011

@dbluell I have the feathers hahaha F&F for you

[El Chingaso]

04:37 PM on 03/12/2011

"How n-i-c-e", which equals in Texas, F**k U. This is ridiculous -- by any reasonable standard. Period.

These overly-compensated administrators produce nothing...and are wholly funded by tax dollars. And American school kids are now preforming below third-world countries in math & science. This is where we have gone...to the brink of total insanity. (You can also thank kids' pathological obsession with little plastic boxes...for their respective academic incompetencies, ad infinitum). Absolute madness...and this story is a prime example of what's so screwed up -- nationwide.

[maester]

06:52 PM on 03/11/2011

The further you get from children in education, the more money you make.

Personally, I don't have any problem with a superintendent making hundreds of thousands per year. If they're good and do their job, then they should be compensated accordingly.

What I have a problem with, however, is how in some districts the superintendents are paid 175k or more while a beginning teacher is lucky to break 35k. In effect, we're paying those who push papers dollars while giving pennies to the ones who are actually educating our children--those who do the very thing for which our education exists. The problem is not the superintendents or what they're paid--it's the way that our society accepts and tolerates miserable pay for teachers.

[Madbunny]

02:19 AM on 03/11/2011

At first I was aghast.

Then I decided that rather than complain about this high salary, we should be boosting teachers up to this range. Attract the best and the brightest. Isn't that the same argument the banks made about salary caps after the whole bailout fiasco? Why should THEY be considered indispensable and the people who are handling our future not?

[Shana Donohue]

03:47 PM on 03/09/2011

Her salary is equal to 12 teacher salaries. Maybe we just found the sinkhole.

[OhioSheryl]

03:32 PM on 03/13/2011

I like your thinking........

[Kirah Lynn Brouillette]

02:21 PM on 03/09/2011

This is fat-cattery at its best and unacceptable as far as I am concerned. If budgets are being slashed and teacher's positions cut, then everyone should feel the pinch, especially those at the top.
Ridiculous.

[Rita Foster]

11:53 AM on 03/09/2011

THAT'S $32,239.00 Per MONTH people! THINK! Ok, I hear New York has a high tax rate. But if you can't live in upstate NY on $150,000 to 175,000 per year ....something is wrong.

[dblueII]

01:37 AM on 03/15/2011

Syosset is on Long Island. But your right! the median income there is 107,000. I'm pretty sure that most of the teachers in her distract could not afford to live there.

[Dana1982]

09:18 AM on 03/09/2011

And I can hear the wails of teachers everywhere saying that they don't really make this much money.

Maybe if the 15 principals, vice principals, assistant vice principals and their staffs were eliminated then their would be more for the teachers.

[matson]

10:37 AM on 03/09/2011

I agree....now how bout CEO's, bank presidents, hedge fund managers, etc etc?

[Dana1982]

12:11 PM on 03/09/2011

When I have to pay CEO's, bank presidents­, hedge fund managers salary, they I'll care. Until then, I hope they can make as much as they possibly can.

[morganplains]

08:29 AM on 03/09/2011

Are we capping the CEO's salaries on Wall St that ruined our economy? Pay a Superintendent $150,000 on Long Island and they wont even be able to afford to live in the school district.

[Dana1982]

09:19 AM on 03/09/2011

yea, $150,000 is on the verge of poverty. Give the man food stamps - stat!

[Rita Foster]

11:20 AM on 03/09/2011

WOW! $150,000 where I live is a nice chunk of change. that's $12,500 a month! Even if you took takes out and all the other stuff...that's a lot of freakn money! I might know 2 or 3 people who earn that kind of money! I guess she'll have to live within her means....$500,000 is a gross amount for ANYONE to make if they don't own the company or produce a product purchased by the masses. Hedge fund clowns are only moving money and managing ponzi schemes which is what I think of Wall Street....no better than a casino to me.

[RoughAcresNY]

02:12 AM on 03/09/2011

While I feel this particular superintendent earns a salary far out of proportion, we do need to recognize that this salary is being paid for 20+ years of experience and hard work. Capping the pay of anyone is a sure incentive to attract second-rate talent... and we need to be rewarding teachers and public service workers who do an excellent job with rates as close to 'market' as possible if we want to retain the best.

[Madbunny]

02:22 AM on 03/11/2011

It's the same argument the banks and conservatives made when they claimed they shouldn't cap salaries during the bailout. Lets see how consistent people are now.

[LeeScho]

08:05 PM on 03/08/2011

Is she doing a good enough job that her community thinks it is okay to compensate her at that rate? Then what is the problem? The CEO of my health insurance plan simply bets that either I won't get sick or that he can refuse to pay if I do. For this he gets tens of millions in salary, benefits, etc.

[Rita Foster]

11:21 AM on 03/09/2011

he shouldnt get tens of millions either.

[Southsidemom]

04:30 PM on 03/08/2011

We are so busy confusing urgent budget imperatives of our states and urgent needs to close the achievement gap amongst students in our schools that we've lost track of what government can and should do to address each issue. To untangle this mess, front line teachers, who are our best experts, need to be around the table creating the solutions. The VIVA Project, www.vivateachers.org empowers classroom teachers to create public education policy from the inside out. Once all the shouting is done, we're going to need their hard work to fulfill our promise to students. They deserve our respect and ear now to contribute to crafting the policies they will live up to.

[Max Shaw]

03:56 PM on 03/08/2011

Theres absolutely positively no reason why she should get paid that much. The majority of her work is delegated to other people including, principals, teachers, faculty...Simply because her district is in a wealthy area does not mean her pay check should reflect the earnings of everyone else who lives there. Most of that money can be used to help with deficits elsewhere rather than helping to build her retirement home in Naples or wherever..

Although we must always value our schools, the education of our children and the teachers who provide it--there are plenty of other ways to spend that kind of money instead of throwing benefits and copious sums at district heads. Cuomo wants to cut thousands of teachers, Bloombastard and Black want to/have been closing schools and yet this superintendent rakes in more than the President? Doesnt make sense.

No one should be making this much in that position. Its about the children. Not the money.