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In the Region
High salaries for teachers and administrators, experts say, are driving costs, with veteran teachers on Long Island earning $100,000 and more, and superintendent salaries averaging more than $200,000, along with costly and generous benefits packages.
Among the 8,400 districts nationwide with at least 500 students that serve all grades from kindergarten to 12th, 67 of the top 100 spenders are in New York State suburbs, including 38 on Long Island. Fourteen are in northern New Jersey, and most of the rest are in Alaska and Wyoming, where sparse populations mean more teachers and higher transportation costs per pupil. Connecticut has no districts that crack that list.
Leading the list on Long Island is the Lawrence Union Free School District, at $23,566 per student, largely because of high transportation costs it incurs for transporting a high concentration of private school students for whom it is required to provide buses. Also high on the list are Mineola, Southampton, Jericho, Sag Harbor, Locust Valley and Great Neck, all more than $22,000 per student.
Altogether, districts in the suburbs of New York City, including northern New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island and Fairfield County in Connecticut, spend far more money — about 75 percent more — educating elementary and secondary school students than the rest of the country, with an average of $14,586 per pupil versus $8,315 nationwide.
The suburban districts in New York are especially generous, spending nearly double the national average: $16,356 per student, according to the census data released on May 24. That is 19 percent more than those in northern New Jersey and 32 percent more than Fairfield County.
The census data from the 2004-5 school year, the most recent available nationwide, demonstrate anew the high costs of public education in the suburbs.
And spending has advanced since 2005: All three states have passed or are considering legislation to add hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to local districts, and districts have added hundreds of millions more in fresh property taxes for next year. In New York, spending in the suburbs has grown by $4,000 per student since 2005, according to state figures.
Why is education so much more expensive in the suburban region, and in New York especially?
Experts say that some of the answer lies in the higher cost of living in the New York area, which makes any enterprise more costly. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the cost of living is 30 percent higher in New York suburbs than the rest of the country and 15 percent higher in New Jersey suburbs.
Some part of the explanation could also lie in a greater commitment by voters to spend money on public education. The number of teachers per pupil in the region is among the highest in the country, census data show, far higher than in Texas, Florida or California, for example.
“Whether you go with the side that says, oh, New York just throws money at the problem or the side that says we’re just investing wisely for the future, it’s undeniable that people are willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to education,” said David Ernst, spokesman for the New York State School Boards Association.
But some of the answer also lies in the competition for educators in increasingly wealthy suburbs. As affluent parents try to give their children every educational advantage, experts say, educators’ salaries have grown far faster in the region than in the rest of the country, largely erasing the stereotype of the underpaid educator that prevails elsewhere.
And New York, where thousands of teachers make six-figure salaries, is paying the most.
“The data suggest that New York is outbidding its neighbors for the best teachers and administrators,” said Bruce Baker, an associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Education.
New York suburban school districts pay, on average, $10,087 per student for teacher salaries and benefits, more than twice as much as the rest of the country. Administrators cost another $1,204 per pupil, also about twice the national average.
New Jersey and Connecticut suburbs spend more than average but almost 25 percent less than New York on teacher salaries and benefits, $7,629 per student. In northern New Jersey, administrators add another $1,043, and in Fairfield County, administrators cost $940 per student.
New York’s high teacher costs are partly attributable to smaller class sizes: The state’s suburban districts, for instance, employ far more teachers than the rest of the country — 76 per 1,000 students, compared with the national average of 60 — but only slightly more than the New Jersey suburbs, at 74, and Fairfield, at 70.
New York’s suburban districts pay more for each teacher, even compared with New Jersey and Connecticut — about $133,000 in salary and benefits for each full-time teacher, compared with $94,000 in northern New Jersey and $100,000 in Fairfield, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Mr. Ernst said teacher salaries reflect both higher costs here, and a more favorable legal and political atmosphere for labor in New York that makes it difficult to get concessions in years when money is tight.
But Richard C. Iannuzzi, president of the New York State United Teachers, said teacher salaries were a further demonstration of the state’s commitment to education. He said that among the union’s responsibilities is advocating for its members.
“We’re proud that we do it well,” he said. “But I would also say in advocating for our members, we advocate for things that affect kids positively, like smaller class sizes, and drive up the cost of education.”
