Keith Hayashi stepped in to lead the Department of Education at a tumultuous time. Some campuses were still closed from the Covid-19 pandemic, families’ trust in the public education system had fallen and the previous superintendent, Christina Kishimoto, left the job after repeatedly clashing with the teachers’ union and principals.
Hayashi, who started as interim superintendent in 2021 and stepped into the permanent job in 2022, is nearing the end of his first term as schools chief. The Board of Education will vote on renewing his four-year contract with an 18% pay raise in a meeting Wednesday.
Under the new contract, Hayashi’s salary could jump from $249,600 to $294,674. He would also qualify for an annual 5% to 8% raise based on performance evaluations, meaning his salary could grow to $400,900 by December 2029, according to a BOE memo.
The proposed raise aims to make Hayashi’s salary nationally competitive, since superintendent pay has remained mostly stagnant since 2017, said Wesley Lo, who chairs the BOE Human Resources Committee. The annual raises aren’t guaranteed since they’re tied to performance, he said, and the board is working to set clear metrics for the superintendent’s yearly evaluation…