Charmaine Lindsay plans to vote in favor of a salary increase this week, not for herself, but as a favor to those who succeed her on the Denver school board.
On Thursday, the seven-person board that oversees the 89,000-student district, Colorado鈥檚 largest, will take a controversial vote on increasing its members鈥� annual pay from a cap of $8,250 to the state-allowed maximum of $33,000, a move intended to attract a more diverse pool of future candidates and more fairly compensate members for their time and expertise.
The Colorado law that allows school board members to be paid, passed in 2021, doesn鈥檛 allow board members to raise their own pay. So, if the increase passes on Nov. 16, only board members sworn in afterward will be eligible. Lindsay lost her election to the board on Nov. 7 in a bid for her first full term after she was appointed in 2022 to fill a vacant seat. Her last day on the board will be Nov. 27.
鈥淭he reason I鈥檓 going to vote on it even though I just lost the election is really just that I totally believe in it,鈥� Lindsay said, adding that she spends an average of 30 hours per week on board duties, on top of her main job running a private law practice. 鈥淲e鈥檙e only attracting people who are wealthy and can afford to do this for free for four years, or we have people who are struggling financially the whole time they鈥檙e on the board, which isn鈥檛 sustainable or fair.鈥�
Opponents argue, however, that the money used to pay board members鈥攚hich would total $231,000 annually once the new pay is fully phased in, or less than 0.02 percent of Denver鈥檚 current school budget鈥攚ould be better spent on classroom supports, like more teachers or additional tutoring services.
Compensation for school board members is growing in popularity. The National School Boards Association has suggested local boards take a look at paying their members and even providing health insurance as a way of boosting economic diversity. But no research has been conducted to prove whether the pay hike is effective in attracting more diverse candidates or in improving board members鈥� ability to manage districts, according to education researchers.
Still, some boards have made moves in recent years to establish or raise board members鈥� pay鈥攚ith Denver potentially the next to do so鈥攁nd more states have gradually allowed it to happen. The boards making the investment are hoping their schools and students will ultimately benefit as a result.
A job vs. a public service
Even as more boards start paying their members, it鈥檚 still more common for boards of education to provide no compensation at all outside of reimbursement for expenses.
Some provide what are effectively stipends, allocating a set amount to be paid for each meeting attended. Usually, those amounts are less than $100 per meeting, according to a review of state laws. Others allow for per diem payments and set an annual maximum.
Most often, school board members receive substantive pay in larger, urban or suburban districts鈥攍ike in Montgomery County, Md., just outside of Washington, where members are paid $25,000 per year; in northern Virginia, where members receive $48,000; and , whose school board members are possibly the highest paid in the country. School board members there who don鈥檛 have other employment receive $125,000 while those who do have other jobs receive $50,000.
Some states鈥� laws, including in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Iowa, explicitly bar school board members from being paid.
Joining a school board has long been viewed as a public service, and state lawmakers shied away from allowing pay for the positions in an attempt to dissuade 鈥渂ad actors鈥� from running, said Rachel White, an assistant professor in the University of Tennessee-Knoxville鈥檚 Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, who studies school district leadership, including school boards.
鈥淭he thought was that money would lead to different types of candidates but, at the time when those conversations were happening, I don鈥檛 think they were thinking about diversity,鈥� White said. 鈥淭hey were probably thinking that the motivation to run shouldn鈥檛 be to have a salary, it should be to serve your constituency.鈥�
But conditions and concerns today are different.
While there鈥檚 no current, centralized accounting of how many states allow, restrict, or mandate school board members鈥� pay, a handful of states in recent years鈥攊ncluding Colorado鈥攈ave updated their laws to allow compensation. Lawmakers and advocates in most places have stated the goal is to cast a wider net when recruiting board candidates.
Illinois legislators have proposed a bill that would allow elected school board members in Chicago to be paid, a move .
The change would come as the school board transitions away from having all mayor-appointed members to a 21-member, fully elected board by early 2027.
Allowing Chicago board members to be paid would require allowing an exception to on paying school board members.
A topic lacking research
But there鈥檚 no real evidence that paying school board members has any effect, either positive or negative, White said. That鈥檚 because no formal research has been done on the topic, despite the increased interest.
Unlike with classroom management, there鈥檚 little academic research about school boards and their members, White said, including into what makes them effective leaders. There鈥檚 also no research about how much money they鈥檇 need to pay members to influence who runs or how well they oversee the district, she said.
There鈥檚 anecdotal evidence that school boards that pay their members tend to be in more urban areas with more diverse populations. So, those places are already more likely to have diverse candidate slates, and it would be hard to determine what effect the compensation had in boosting candidates鈥� racial and socioeconomic diversity, said White, a former school board member in Ohio.
鈥淚 wish that I could say I have a strong opinion about this, but this really is a hard topic and there鈥檚 just no evidence to say one way or the other,鈥� White said. 鈥淐ompensation isn鈥檛 why I did the work, but that doesn鈥檛 mean we shouldn鈥檛 be considering how to make sure that people who want to do this work can, and if that means considering compensation in some cases, I think we need to consider that.鈥�
Other roadblocks
If paying board members does lead to a more diverse pool of candidates who bring different perspectives to the table that ultimately benefit students, the investment pays for itself, White said.
On the other hand, a lack of adequate compensation isn鈥檛 the only barrier to convincing people to run for school board.
It鈥檚 a challenging job with big responsibilities, and, at times, heightened public scrutiny.
In recent years, school board meetings have taken center stage in heated political debates over how race and gender are taught in schools, book challenges, and LGBTQ+ policies.
The added stress and poor public perception of school boards are a 鈥渂ig challenge,鈥� said Lindsay, the outgoing Denver board member.
If nothing else, expecting people to put in long hours for little or no pay isn鈥檛 fair, she said, and you also don鈥檛 want people skimping on their board duties because they have to work.
Lindsay has had to cut back on work at her law firm to accommodate her school board work鈥攖o attend meetings and community events, visit schools, review meeting materials that can regularly total hundreds of pages, and respond to community members鈥� feedback and concerns.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e trying to work a full-time job on top of all of that, it鈥檚 impossible,鈥� Lindsay said.
For school boards that are considering establishing or raising compensation, White said it鈥檚 important that they clearly define their goals, evaluate each year whether the compensation is having the intended effect, and be willing to adjust or backtrack if needed.
鈥淭hey have to not be afraid to say it didn鈥檛 work if that ends up being the case,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey have to say when it鈥檚 time to go back to the drawing board and be open to doing their own analysis to see whether or not the pay is helping them move toward the outcomes that they鈥檙e interested in.鈥�
