Could you imagine a school without a principal to take care of overall administration and management of the facilities? I don’t think anybody could. We always have this image of the principal as the school administrator responsible for managing the day to day activities of the school.

Love ‘em or dislike ‘em, the school principal is much more than the terror we perceive him/her to be. Today’s school system dictates that principals wear many hats. They are in a unique position that sometimes requires them to be diplomatic and deal with government agencies, interact with parents and the community in general; they have to be a very efficient and effective crisis manager, a disciplinarian, hiring manager (to identify qualified teachers), the overall team leader for setting and planning long term educational and economic goals; as well as a performer of all other little tasks. Nobody does multitasking better than a school principal.

Given this colossal mountain of responsibilities, one couldn’t help but wonder: What makes them successful at their jobs? Is it the pay? Hardly; but yes, pay does matter. With all the gargantuan tasks school principals are expected to accomplish, one would think they deserve quite a hefty salary. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. One size does not fit all school principal salary packages; rather, salary scales depend on a lot of factors, including length of service, the size of school/student population and the state where they work. Check out these 5 states where school principals are paid the highest and how high the salary scales are.

• California. The state of California reportedly has the highest median salary range for school principals from a low of $52,029 to a high of $98,840.

• New York. This state follows closely with a median pay scale that starts quite high at $65,000 with the potential to get closer to $98,500.

• Massachusetts. Massachusetts pays its school principals well. Median salary range is between $50,968 and $97,440.

• Illinois. Illinois school principals receive much higher wage than their counterparts elsewhere, pegged at a median salary scale of $60,408 – $82,590.

• Florida. Data indicates that Florida made it to the top 5 states which compensate school principals the best, with a recorded median salary range from $40,871 to $73,844.

Are you aspiring to become a school principal? You think you’ve got the chops for the job? It’s not easy but also not impossible. Aside from getting the right education and training, you also have to prepare yourself physically; a lot of stamina and willpower is required to to stay on top of everything, and all with grace under pressure. Remember, it requires a lot of organizing skills and confident flair to successfully pull off the multifunctional role you’re going to play. Take the first step and start planning today!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 8:47 am and is filed under Applying for a Job, Career Changes, Free Advice, Job Search Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.