10 highest-paid Black public officials: select group includes 4 school superintendents and 3 health-care executives

Ebony, Sept, 1990

10 HIGHEST-PAID BLACK PUBLIC OFFICIALS

Select group includes 4 school superintendents and 3 health-care executives

There are more than 2.6 million Blacks working in the public sector in the United States. At the top of this pool are 10 local, state and government officials whose salaries rank them above the rest.

Ted D. Kimbrough, general superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, with a base salary of $175,000, is, according to our research, the highest-paid Black public official and one of the highest-paid public officials in the U.S. The new superintendent, who assumed his position in January, has a package of perks that includes a $25,000 annual housing salary and a $30,000 annual, maximum pension, payable upon retirement.

Four of the 10 highest-paid Blacks are schools superintendents. In fact, six-figure earners such as Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley were bumped from our list by superintendents who outsalaried them by a few thousand dollars.

Why do schools superintendents tend to make more money than other public employes? "Salaries are finally beginning to reflect the kinds of skills necessary to manage a system of that magnitude and to be the primary advocate for the education of children," says Milton Bins, deputy director of the Council of Grade City Schools, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

Education is not the only area that offers top salaries to its chief officers. Our research found three hospital executives among the top 10 public officials. Three officials--Lois Jean Moore of Houston, Robert B. Johnson of Atlanta and Ezunial Burts of Los Angeles--are ranked among the top five highest-paid officials.

Though some economic forecasters would have one believe that Black women are gaining parity in the work place, we could locate only one woman, Moore, president of the Harris County Hospital District in Texas, who appears to have cracked the list of highest-paid public officials.

For those who are wondering, we defined public officials as any person, appointed or elected, who holds a fulltime government position and whose salary is paid by a government body.

Though public officials featured here exemplify the earning potential available to Blacks in high-level government jobs, their salaries are often a far cry from those of their counterparts in private industry. Employes who work alongside some of these public officials maintain that the business acumen, interpersonal skills and dedication they possess could easily command salaries of half a million dollars in the private sector. Kimbrough sums it this way: "The same head hunter that would look for a president or CEO of Amoco or Sears is looking for the same level of understanding and executive skills that go into this job."

PHOTO : Ted D. Kimbrough, general superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, is responsible for the

PHOTO : administration of a $2.5 billion budget and the education of more than 408,000 students.

PHOTO : Married and the father of nine, the 55-year-old administrator began his career 33 years

PHOTO : ago as a teacher in Los Angeles.

PHOTO : Lois Jean Moore, president and chief executive officer of the Harris County Hospital

PHOTO : District in Houston, is responsible for overall planning, development and implementation

PHOTO : of functions and activities of the largest hospital district in Texas, which includes

PHOTO : three hospitals and 10 clinics, and has an annual budget of $200 million. The 54-year-old

PHOTO : mother of one daughter began her career as a nurse 33 years ago in the emergency room of

PHOTO : one of the hospitals she now administers.

PHOTO : Matthew W. Prophet Jr., superintendent of Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, is responsible

PHOTO : for an enrollment of 53,500 students and a $310 million budget. Married, the 60 year old

PHOTO : father of three has a Ph.D. in educational supervision and administration from

PHOTO : Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

PHOTO : Currently serving his fifth term as mayor of Detroit, Coleman Young, 72, is one of the

PHOTO : highest-paid mayors in the country, with a salary commensurate to that of Mayor David

PHOTO : Dinkins of New York. He serves as chief executive of a city with a population of 1 million

PHOTO : people.

PHOTO : Marvin E. Edwards, 47, is general superintendent of the Dallas Independent School

PHOTO : District, which is responsible for the education of 133,000 students. Originally from

PHOTO : Illinois, he earned master's degrees from Chicago State University and an Ed.D. from

PHOTO : Northern Illinois University. Edwards is married and has five children.

PHOTO : Milton Bins, Deputy Director Council of Grade City Schools