District Pays More Than State Average for Less Experienced Administrators

The Wall Township school district pays its administrators more for less experienced personnel, spends less on overall student education and its high school pupils scored higher on standardized tests while sitting in more crowded classrooms than state averages, according to state education scorecards released Tuesday.

The median salary of district administration is $133,021 as compared to $117, 895 state average salary. But the state average number of years of experience for an administrator is 20, as opposed to 16 years for the Wall school district, according to figures released Tuesday.

The district spent $14,133 in 2010 to educate Wall students. That’s $1,405 less than the $15,538 state average, according to the report.

At Wall High School, pupils sat in more crowded classrooms, but scored better than state averages on all parts of standardized tests and graduated at far greater rates than state averages, according to the report.

But fewer Wall High School students participated in advanced placement courses than state averages and lagged behind state scores on average daily attendance. The school, however, had far fewer drop outs than state averages, according to the report.

Wall Patch will be going through the report card for each of Wall’s schools and posting stories as we get them, beginning with Wall High School. The full state report on the school can be found by clicking here

Here are some highlights from the state’s report card on Wall High School:

* In Wall High School, the average class has 21.1 pupils, above the state average of 18.2

* On both Language and Math sections of the High School Proficiency Assessment, Wall High pupils scored above the state average:

•  In Language: 71.3 percent scored proficient and 22.3 percent scored advanced. The state average was 69.3 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively.
• In Math, Wall high students scored 53.6 percent proficient and 27.7 percent advanced. The state average was 50.7 percent and 24.3 percent respectively

 * Wall High School’s graduation rate was far above the state average at 97.2 percent against a 90.6 percent state average.

 * Wall High students scored slightly above the state average in each of the three sections of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT):

• In mathematics, Wall students scored an average of 524 to the state average of 520
• In verbal, Wall High Students scored 505 to the state average of 497.
• In essay, Wall High students scored 507 to the state average of 499.

 * Wall High students lagged behind the state average of students participating in Advanced Placement courses. Wall had 15.5 percent of its 11th and 12th grade students in AP courses. The state average is 19.9 percent.

* Wall High also lagged behind the state average in average daily attendance, with 93.5 percent of Wall High students showing up for class each day, compared with a 94.6 percent state average.