A READER SENT LADY BUDGETDOWN A BREADCRUMB.
And at first, it looked like a pretty simple one:
What happens when you put Saginaw ISD's administrative compensation ladder next to the teacher salary schedule?
So I did.
And then I kept reading.
Because salary is only one line in the ledger.
On the 2026–27 SIFT teacher schedule, a BA starts at $50,000. At Step 14, a BA reaches $82,500, an MA reaches $94,000, MA+30 reaches $99,000, and MA/LIC tops out at $101,500.
Now look at the administrative side.
SISD's 2024–25 compensation report shows Directors at roughly $103,000–$117,000, Executive Directors at roughly $134,000–$150,000, Deputy Superintendents at roughly $171,000–$196,000, and the Superintendent at $297,000 in salary.
Different jobs. Different responsibilities. And, importantly, different work calendars.
Many of SISD's key administrative positions are 261-day positions, while SIFT positions generally range from 181 to 195 days depending on assignment. That context belongs in the ledger too.
But then I compared what sits around those salary schedules. And that's where this breadcrumb got interesting.
Under the SIFT contract, employees receive 15 leave days, with up to three of those 15 days available for personal business.
Covered administrators receive 15 sick days PLUS separate personal-business days, and the administrative salary schedule provides six personal-business days for Directors and Executive Directors.
Then there is vacation. The SIFT agreement has no separate contractual vacation bank.
Covered administrators receive 15 to 25 vacation days depending on position, with Directors and Executive Directors receiving 25. The administrative handbook also provides for limited vacation carryover and, under specified circumstances, payout of unused vacation.
Again: the work calendars are different. That's why I'm putting that fact right beside the numbers rather than hiding it.
Then there is travel and professional development.
SIFT employees receive the IRS mileage rate for work-connected travel, and the contract provides reimbursement for necessary job expenses that receive prior written approval.
The administrative handbook goes considerably further in spelling things out.
For covered administrators, approved professional activities can include reimbursement for travel, food, lodging, conference registration, supplies and materials, along with approved local, state and national professional association memberships.
And then I reached tuition reimbursement.
This one deserves its own line in the ledger.
A SIFT bargaining-unit employee pursuing approved graduate coursework can receive up to $325 per credit hour, but only for a maximum of six credits per year.
That's a maximum ordinary annual reimbursement of:
$1,950.
A covered administrator can receive the same $325 per credit hour...
for up to 18 credits per year.
Maximum:
$5,850.
Same school district.
Same maximum reimbursement per credit.
Three times the reimbursable credits.
Three times the potential annual tuition assistance.
And that's the part of this breadcrumb I keep coming back to.
Because look at the teacher salary ladder again.
BA.
MA.
MA+30.
Those letters aren't decorative.
Moving across that salary schedule requires additional education and credentials. Yet the employees being asked to acquire those credentials have a contractual tuition-reimbursement ceiling of six credits per year, while covered administrators can receive reimbursement for as many as 18.
So perhaps the question isn't simply:
"Why do administrators make more than teachers?"
Of course different positions carry different responsibilities, qualifications and work years.
Maybe the better question is:
When we tell educators that more education and credentials are the path to higher compensation, how much are we actually helping them climb that path?
Because there are two compensation ladders at Saginaw ISD.
The salaries are different.
The leave structures are different.
The professional-development provisions are different.
And even the amount of tuition assistance available to help someone climb those ladders is different.
A reader handed me the breadcrumb.
I just followed it through the contracts.
You can decide what the ledger says.
👑 Lady Budgetdown
With receipts & respect.
Sources: Saginaw ISD Annual Web Report 2024–25; Saginaw ISD Administration/Non-Bargaining Staff Handbook 2025–26; SIFT Collective Bargaining Agreement 2026–29. Reporting periods differ. Administrative-handbook benefits discussed above apply to covered administrative/non-bargaining employees; the handbook excludes the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent unless incorporated into their individual contracts.
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