School superintendent vs director of special services

The differences between school superintendents and directors of special services can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a school superintendent and a director of special services. Additionally, a school superintendent has an average salary of $93,341, which is higher than the $81,779 average annual salary of a director of special services.

The top three skills for a school superintendent include curriculum development, K-12 and student achievement. The most important skills for a director of special services are social work, business development, and mental health.

School superintendent vs director of special services overview

	School Superintendent	Director Of Special Services
Yearly salary	$93,341	$81,779
Hourly rate	$44.88	$39.32
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	30,220	70,868
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

School superintendent vs director of special services salary

School superintendents and directors of special services have different pay scales, as shown below.

	School Superintendent	Director Of Special Services
Average salary	$93,341	$81,779
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $131,000	Between $56,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between school superintendent and director of special services education

There are a few differences between a school superintendent and a director of special services in terms of educational background:

	School Superintendent	Director Of Special Services
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	Educational Leadership	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Northwestern University

School superintendent vs director of special services demographics

Here are the differences between school superintendents' and directors of special services' demographics:

	School Superintendent	Director Of Special Services
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5%	Male, 41.7% Female, 58.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 4.4% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 4.3% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between school superintendent and director of special services duties and responsibilities

School superintendent example responsibilities.

Create a PBIS system for teachers on how to manage behavior on a daily basis and reward positive outcomes.
Establish and maintain relationships with colleges, community organizations, and other schools to coordinate educational services.
Reconcile special activity bank accounts and run reports using QuickBooks and upload into SharePoint.

Director of special services example responsibilities.

Develop and manage a capital budget of $200K, an operational budget of $100K and 50 FTE's.
Coordinate Medicaid billing for the district.
Direct the administrative and clinical operations of rehabilitation services for a two-campus 325-bed acute-care hospital and hospital-base home health agency.
Maintain and supervise all clinical performance improvement systems for JCAHO accreditation.

School superintendent vs director of special services skills

Common school superintendent skills

Curriculum Development, 12%
K-12, 9%
Student Achievement, 7%
Public Schools, 6%
Elementary Schools, 6%
Pre-K, 5%

Common director of special services skills

Social Work, 10%
Business Development, 8%
Mental Health, 8%
Securities, 7%
Treasury, 7%
Staff Development, 7%

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School Superintendent vs Director Of Special Services

Updated January 8, 2025

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