Executive Pay vs. Classroom Pay

Our analysis of publicly available compensation data shows a severe imbalance between executive compensation and classroom pay within NISD.

• The Superintendent’s compensation is approximately $400,000 per year

• The average teacher salary is approximately $65,000 per year

This represents a pay ratio of roughly 6:1, placing the superintendent’s compensation near the 99th percentile nationally among public school districts. This level of executive pay is extraordinarily high and not typical for U.S. public school systems, particularly when compared against teacher wages.

Public education should prioritize the classroom—not executive compensation at the extreme upper edge of national norms.

Administrative Growth vs. Student Growth

Over the last 15 years, NISD has experienced significant enrollment growth—but administrative staffing has grown at a far faster rate.

• Student enrollment has approximately doubled

• Administrative staffing has nearly tripled

This growth pattern is not typical and runs counter to how large school districts normally scale.

Why this matters:

• Smaller districts often have higher administrator-to-student ratios because fixed roles cannot be shared.

• Larger districts should gain efficiency, resulting in more students per administrator, not fewer.

At NISD, the opposite has occurred:

• As enrollment increased, administrative headcount and administrative payroll increased disproportionately

• The student-to-administrator ratio has declined, signaling administrative bloat rather than operational efficiency

Examples of Administrative Compensation

Current staffing and salary data shows significant spending concentration in non-instructional roles, including:

• 4 Human Resources Directors earning approximately $125,000 each

• 22 Business Services professionals earning approximately $95,000 each

• 52 Educational Diagnosticians earning approximately $80,000 each

• 25 IT professionals earning approximately $90,000 each

• 1 Business Manager earning approximately $200,000

These roles may serve important functions—but the scale and cost raise serious questions about priorities, efficiency, and oversight.

Our Position: Spend on Teachers, Not Bureaucracy

We believe NISD should re-prioritize funding toward the classroom, where it has the greatest impact on student outcomes.

Our proposal:

• Increase the average base pay of every K–12 teacher to $100,000 per year

Financial impact:

• Current estimated teacher payroll: $136 million

• Proposed teacher payroll: $149 million

• Net increase: $13 million

This is a manageable increase within the district’s overall budget and could be achieved through:

• Administrative consolidation

• Slower growth in central office staffing

• Restoring scale efficiencies expected of a large district

Strong teacher pay improves:

• Recruitment

• Retention

• Classroom stability

• Student outcomes

Supporting Local Texans First

NISD currently employs 86 staff members who are on:

• Immigrant visas

• Work permits

• Permanent resident (Green Card) status

While all employees deserve respect, we believe local Texans should be prioritized whenever possible.

Our position is simple:

There are at least 86 qualified Texans who can fill these roles.

Public school districts exist to serve local communities—and that includes local workers and local families.

Our Core Principle

NISD is not short on money.
It is short on discipline, prioritization, and accountability.

We advocate for:

• Teachers over administrators

• Classrooms over bureaucracy

• Local Texans over imported labor

• Efficiency over excess

Public education should serve students—not sustain an ever-expanding administrative apparatus.