Highest Paid in the Hawaii Department of Education

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Reading time: 5 minutes.

A look at the highest salaries in the Hawaii Department of Education might begin to dispel a popular belief that administrators benefit financially at the expense of the people who interact with students on a daily basis.

The top earners are not necessarily the likely suspects, complex area superintendents and assistant superintendents. At least 12 high school principals are eligible to make $5,782 more than the department’s highest official, Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.

Civil Beat analyzed the pay structure of the education department, after filing a state open records request for the names, positions and salaries of all its employees.

K-12 education is the state’s largest single expense, accounting for 40 percent of its $5.5 billion general fund budget. The state spends approximately $2.1 billion to run the department’s 254 regular public schools and 13 special and adult education schools.1 About $1.2 billion of that pays the salaries of the department’s 21,929 workers. An additional $450 million pays for their fringe benefits. (To read the other articles stemming from this research, Civil Beat Shares Department of Education Salaries, Lowest Paid in the Hawaii Department of Education and Education: Where the Boys Aren’t.

The information provided was organized by title and bargaining unit, not by name or salary. And because the department is not required to share actual salaries for union workers, it’s impossible to know the exact lineup of employees on the pay scale. Instead, the district shared a salary range for each job. To further complicate matters, the extreme ends of each range for the department’s highest wage-earners can differ by as much as $45,000, and many of the ranges overlap one another.

The top officials are among the few employees with fixed salaries:

  • $150,000 for the superintendent — the department’s top official. The national mean salary is $211,867 for superintendents of school districts with 25,000 or more students.
  • $120,000 for two complex area superintendents and Acting Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe. The national mean salary for a deputy superintendent in school districts of similar size is $146,162.
  • $115,000 for 11 complex area superintendents and an assistant superintendent.

As for the rest of the highest-paid employees, a Civil Beat analysis revealed:

  • Three of the department’s four assistant superintendents make it into the top 74.
  • The top-earning principals can make up to $155,782 — nearly $6,000 more than the superintendent earns.
  • There are 293 employees who can earn $120,000 or more.
  • The department has 660 employees, or 3 percent, who are eligible to earn up to $100,000 or more.
  • At least 56 school principals can make up to $35,000 more annually than what 11 of the 13 complex area superintendents earn.

Here is the list of the 74 highest-paid employees, based on the bottom of each individual’s salary range. The reason for the number is that 31 people fall into the range of $101,240 to $143,317. The bottom of that range is the 44th highest paid position.

Rank Name Title Salary
1 Kathryn Matayoshi Supt of Education $150,000
2 William Arakaki Complex Area Supt $120,000
3 Lisa Anne Delong Complex Area Supt $120,000
4 Ronn Nozoe Deputy Superintendent $120,000
5 Lea Ellen Albert Complex Area Supt $115,000
6 Bruce Anderson Complex Area Supt $115,000
7 Lindsay Ball Complex Area Supt $115,000
8 Joyce Yoshiko Bellino Complex Area Supt $115,000
9 James Brese Asst Supt, Fiscal Svcs $115,000
10 Mary Correa Complex Area Supt $115,000
11 Daniel Hamada Asst Supt, Curr/Inst $115,000
12 Sheldon Oshio Complex Area Supt $115,000
13 Patricia Park Complex Area Supt $115,000
14 Stephen Schatz Complex Area Supt $115,000
15 Arthur Souza Complex Area Supt $115,000
16 Valerie Takata Complex Area Supt $115,000
17 Teri Ushijima Complex Area Supt $115,000
18 David Wu Asst Supt, Info/Tech Svcs $115,000
19 Marvin Brummel 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
20 Samiann Coleman 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
21 Elden Esmeralda 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
22 Carlyn Fujimoto 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
23 Darrel Galera 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
24 Keith Hayashi 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
25 Meredith Maeda 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
26 Ron Okamura 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
27 Nelson Shigeta 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
28 Linda Smith 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
29 Randy Yamanuha 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
30 Gilmore Youn 12-Mo HS Prin VIII $110,046 – $155,782
31 Elynne Eiko Chung 12-Mo MT Inter Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
32 Robert Dircks 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
33 Kelcy Koga 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
34 Donna Rea Lindsey 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
35 Ann A M Mahi 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
36 Wilfred Murakami 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
37 Michael Nakano 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
38 Annette Nishikawa 12-Mo MT Inter Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
39 Helen Sanpei 12-Mo CSA Prin VI $105,551 – $149,417
40 Susan Scofield 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
41 Michael Tokioka 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
42 Penelope Tom 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
43 Gwen Ueoka 12-Mo HS Prin VII $105,551 – $149,417
44 Debra Badua 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
45 Catherine Bratt 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
46 Nely Caberto 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
47 Dean Cevallos 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
48 John Costales 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
49 Randell Dunn 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
50 Robert Eggleston 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
51 Raechelle Fabrao 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
52 Michael Harano 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
53 Francine Honda 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
54 Susan Hummel 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
55 Ronald Jarvis 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
56 Jon Kitabayashi 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
57 Tom Kurashige 12-Mo Inter Prin V $101,240 – $143,317
58 Amy Martinson 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
59 Donald Merwin 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
60 Michael Miyamura 12-Mo MT Elem Prin V $101,240 – $143,317
61 Corrin Mulcahy 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
62 Frederick Murphy 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
63 Pierce Myers 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
64 Lisa Nagamine 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
65 Calvin Hisao Nomiyama 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
66 Mitchell Otani 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
67 Darin Pilialoha 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
68 Randiann Porras-Tang 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
69 John Sosa 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
70 Shawn Suzuki 12-Mo HS Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
71 John Vannatta 12-Mo CSA Prin V $101,240 – $143,317
72 Estelle Wong 12-Mo CSA Prin V $101,240 – $143,317
73 Jamie Yap 12-Mo Inter Prin VI $101,240 – $143,317
74 Gary Yasui 12-Mo MT Elem Prin V $101,240 – $143,317

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