The Center for Urban Research and Education’s (CURE) Seminar Series will continue its fall season with a presentation by Dr. Michael Hayes, and assistant professor in the Departement of Public Policy and Administration here at Rutgers–Camden. Dr. Hayes will present, “The Effect of the New Jersey Superintendent Salary Cap on Superintendent Turnover.” 

The event will take place on Friday, December 7 at 12:15 p.m. in Armitage Hall’s Faculty Lounge.  Lunch will be served.  All are welcome to this free event. 

Questions may be directed to Dr. Natasha Fletcher, Associate Director of CURE.

The abstract of the talk is as follows:

This talk will present new findings on the unintended consequences of the New Jersey Superintendent Salary Cap (NJSSC). Starting in 2011, New Jersey set a salary cap for all future superintendent contracts based on student enrollment. This is one of the first state-imposed tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) placed directly on local public managers. The salary cap caused large reductions in base salaries for future superintendent contracts in the majority of NJ school districts. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, the current study estimates the effect of NJSSC on superintendent turnover following the 2010-11 school year. Specifically, this study finds that an additional $10,000 reduction in base salary due to the NJSSC corresponds to a 4.0 percentage point increase in the likelihood of superintendent turnover for school districts with an expiring contract relative to those school districts without an expiring contract. Additionally, this study finds this increase in the likelihood of superintendent turnover following the enactment of NJSSC was largest for the least affluent school districts in New Jersey.