Does Principal Pay Matter? An Analysis of Principal Compensation and School Performance in Colorado K-12 Public Schools

Compensation of K-12 school principals, and the effect that it has on the performance of the schools they lead, has become a relevant policy debate in recent years. This study examines the relationship between principal salaries and student performance on Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) tests by using multivariate quintile regressions on data from the 2002-2005 school years. Controlling for differences in cost of living across districts, a positive correlation between principal salaries and student CSAP scores was found, particularly in the mathematics section of the test. However, the percentage of a school’s students on free and reduced lunch and teacher salaries were found to have a larger impact on student performance