About the Series

Journal | January/February 2022 

Since 1997, the Illinois Association of School Boards, working with researchers in the field of educational leadership, has published a report on the salaries of superintendents and principals in Illinois. Early data for the study was obtained through surveys with un-audited information as reported to ISBE, with relatively low rates of return.
 
In 2009, a change in the law (Public Act 96-0434) required Illinois school districts to report administrator and teacher salary information to ISBE. The Illinois School Code was amended in 2011 to reflect changes in the reporting dates. The data were briefly unavailable during the transition, and the Administrator Salaries series was paused for a few years.
 
With reporting standards in place and the data being made available to researchers, IASB’s “annual” study of administrator salaries was revived in 2014 and 2015 with a catch-all and catch-up from the missing years, followed by a normal annual analysis. The series paused again in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic upended data reporting and publishing.
 
It also curtailed the ability of our longtime collaborators at Western Illinois University to participate. We are grateful for their work over the years to keep the series going. This installment adheres to their standards for identifying trends, reportage, and analysis as faithfully as possible.
 
This issue includes superintendent salaries. We’ll treat principal salaries in the next issue of the Journal.
 
The full series, dating back to 1997, is available on the IASB website, starting at bit.ly/IASBAdminSalaries