INDEPENDENT REVIEW
OF TOP 100 HEAD START EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SALARIES FINDS THEM “ABOUT PAR” WITH OTHER
CHILD-CARE NONPROFITS
NHSA Backs Collection of Salary Data, But
Wants It Done Legally and Fairly; HHS Survey is "Brief
for Prosecution" From Proponents of Dismantling
Head Start.
WASHINGTON,
D.C.///February 5, 2004///A detailed analysis conducted on an independent
basis by the San Antonio Express-News of the top 100 salaries
of executive directors of nonprofit agencies that include
Head Start programs finds them to be “about par for
charities that focus on child care, according to a study
of 68,000 nonprofits by Philanthropic Research Inc.”
The San Antonio Express-News article (“Head Start
wage gap debate rages,” February 1, 2004) is available
online at http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1122379 and parallels the research now being wrapped up by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) into Head Start
executive director salaries. The San Antonio Express-News
article includes a detailed Excel chart (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/docs/0201headstart_salaries.xls)
that lists and ranks the top 100 Head Start program grantees
from around the U.S. in terms of the 2001 salaries of individuals
heading up operations that include Head Start programs.
The article reads in part: “… the San Antonio
Express-News compiled a list of 100 tax-exempt nonprofits
that received the most Head Start money in 2001, and then
collected their tax forms, which are public records. The
newspaper's review looked at a spectrum of programs. Some
groups feed and educate children of migrant farm workers;
others serve inner-city kids. Against this backdrop, the
newspaper found winners and losers. The 10 lowest-paid Head
Start officials made less than an elementary school principal.
The 10 highest-paid executives earned salaries that rivaled
that of Tommy Thompson, the U.S. secretary of Health and
Human Services, who ultimately is their boss.”
The San Antonio Express-News goes on to put the top grantee
executive salaries in this context: “Overall, the
average compensation of 96 top officials for which complete
information was available came out to nearly $110,000. That's
about par for charities that focus on child care, according
to a study of 68,000 nonprofits by Philanthropic Research
Inc.” Information about the Philanthropic Research
study is available on the Web at www.guidestar.org/services/2003_cr_preview.pdf.
The San Antonio Express-News results are particularly telling
since most of the individuals cited in the survey are actually
executive directors of large, multi-purpose agencies that
carry out a number of different programs, only one of which
is Head Start. No breakdown is provided in the story on the
fraction of the executive directors’ salaries that
actually come out of Head Start funds, which, in many cases,
is under 50 percent. On November 25, 2003, NHSA pointed out
that local Head Start program directors (as distinct from
executive directors) are underpaid as a group. The average
Head Start program director salary is $53,114, which is well
under the comparable local position of elementary school
principal. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in
2003 that the average pay of elementary school principals
is $69,000. In fact, 99 percent of Head Start program directors
are paid under $100,000.
The San Antonio News-Express article provides this additional
third-party perspective on the salary question: "’When
you look at it in perspective, 90 percent of your executive
directors are probably making what your average citizen would
consider a normal range,’" said James Mitchell,
director of the Institute of Child and Family Studies at Texas
Tech University, which trains Head Start employees and sends
consultants to troubled agencies.”
In subsequent post-publication comments, Mr. Mitchell said: "This
analysis provides the first independent look at Head Start
executive director salaries and it debunks the notion that
there is some kind of problem here that needs to be fixed.
Even at the nation's biggest Head Start programs, nearly
every salary is in line with what other comparable nonprofit
heads are being paid.”
Mitchell added: “The notion that these are people
overseeing 40 kids seated at folding tables in a church basement
is completely wrong. These are experienced and highly-skilled
executives, many of whom are overseeing $10 or $20 million
budgets that serve hundreds or thousands of children at multiple
facilities. Anyone who thinks that these executive directors
should be paid less just because this is Head Start is sending
a very clear message about the low priority they place on
this crucial program serving America's most disadvantaged
children. It is particularly cynical to fail to provide the
funds needed to pay Head Start teachers and then to turn
around and blame the lack of funds on the salaries of the
highly-skilled individuals required to run these programs."
National Head Start Association (NHSA) President and CEO
Sarah Greene added: "This newspaper analysis provides
a thoughtful and reasonably complete depiction of the top
Head Start executive director salaries. Actually, the story
here is even better than way it looks in the San Antonio
article, since most executive directors running large, multi-purpose
agencies get only a portion of their salaries from Head Start.
I would take issue with any suggestion that Head Start teacher
salaries are somehow shortchanged by executive director salaries.
We need qualified people in place to run these major programs
operating under complex federal requirements. The reality
is that Head Start is chronically underfunded by Congress
and we just are not given the resources to pay our teachers
what they need and deserve.”
Greene added: “We are highlighting this San Antonio
News-Express research for two reasons. First, it is independent.
This is not NHSA or HHS talking about salaries. It is a third
party with no axe to grind. Second, this research debunks
in advance those who will try to manufacture the ‘evidence’ to
show that there is any kind of systemic problem with overpaid
Head Start executive directors. We now have independent,
third-party verification that any such suggestion is simply
untrue.”
NHSA warned on November 25, 2003, that both pending U.S.
House and Senate bills for Head Start reauthorization do
nothing to alleviate the "real Head Start pay scandal" of
low teacher salaries under which the average Head Start teacher
was paid only $21,000 in the 2000-2001 program year, compared
to public school teachers earning about twice that at $43,000.
Even worse, both bills create an "unfunded B.A. mandate" by
requiring higher degrees but then failing to provide funding
for scholarships and more competitive salaries for teachers.
Under the Senate bill, Head Start programs actually would
be threatened with defunding if Head Start teachers fail
to get the higher degrees.
The San Antonio News-Express describes its research methodology
as follows: “The Department of Health and Human Services
doesn't list organizations by the size of Head Start grants.
The San Antonio Express-News turned to another government
source, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse, and downloaded a
list of the top Head Start nonprofit grantees in the United
States for fiscal year ending in 2001, the most
complete period available. That information is available
at harvester.census.gov/sac/. The newspaper then gathered
tax forms for the top organizations. The forms were obtained
from the nonprofits, the Internal Revenue Service, and Philanthropic
Research, Inc., a nonprofit entity that collects tax documents
for thousands of groups and makes them available on the Internet
at guidestar.org. The service is free. Incomplete tax forms
and missing years created some gaps in the review. For example,
most groups have fiscal years that begin in 2001 and end
in 2002, but some didn't report their time periods and could
go by the 2001 calendar year.”
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit
membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting
the needs of Head Start children and their families. It
represents more than 900,000 children, 190,000 staff and
2,500 Head
Start programs in the United States. The Association provides
support for the entire Head Start community by advocating
for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children
and their families; by providing extensive training and
professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing
and disseminating
research, information and resources that enrich Head Start
program delivery.
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com
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