GREAT CALL BY EGGEN

Putting a cap on school superintendents’ salaries and limiting their perks isn’t going to inject many millions of new dollars into classrooms, but it’s an important decision nonetheless.

The NDP had been aware for months that Alberta superintendents’ compensation was out of line with their colleagues’ pay elsewhere in Canada, so Education Minister David Eggen acted last week to ensure future contracts are more reasonable.

For instance, David Stevenson, who is retiring this fall from the top job at the Calgary Board of Education, has a base salary of $295,000. The most his successor can receive is $275,000.

Reaching that maximum requires the approval of the education minister. School boards in Calgary and Edmonton are only permitted to negotiate a contract worth up to $260,000.

It’s a reduction in pay, but the compensation is still very generous and is comparable to what candidates would earn in other parts of the country.

“I think it’s important to remember that the CBE is a $1.4-billion organization with 14,000 employees, and that the head of that organization does need to be appropriately compensated,” said board chair Trina Hurdman.

Premier Rachel Notley works very hard, too, and has considerable responsibilities. She made $207,486 last year, which is well below the amount being made available to hire school superintendents.

Stevenson, who announced his retirement 18 months before his contract runs out, is to receive a full year’s salary as severance, as well as $400,000 in retirement benefits and $100,000 in unused vacation pay from his fourdecade career. In the future, severance won’t be paid if a person retires or resigns voluntarily, which is as it should be.

There’s also a limit to the perks superintendents can receive. The NDP review found one contract that included $10,000 per year for a superintendent’s children’s post-secondary education and another that provided $25,000 a year for a so-called executive compensation fund — money that could be withdrawn as cash, or go toward an RRSP or health spending account.

Collectively, school superintendents draw $14.1 million a year from the public purse in base salaries. The changes, when fully implemented, are expected to save $1.5 million. That may not be a lot of money in an $8.4-billion budget, but it’s important that as many dollars as possible are directed toward making a difference in the classroom.

Eggen deserves credit for the common sense measures he’s put in place.