Cutbacks put school executives' pay, benefits in spotlight

After comparing the number of students, teachers and administrators over the past five years, Smith noticed a few trends.

"The students and teachers seem to grow at the same rate, and administrators were flat or slightly up," said Smith, who has two children at Hershey Elementary.

"Our number of administrators has been very conservative. And the fact they stayed flat says, to me, you can't just cut there" to save money.

School administrators and their compensation have come under scrutiny in recent months as districts work to cut millions from their 2010 general funds -- the fund that pays most personnel expenses -- after a 4.5 percent state-imposed budget reduction was announced in December. School salaries