Lowering the requirements, and the salary too

New York Sun columnist Andrew Wolf notes that the state of NY can't be too serious about finding a decent psychometrician to solve their testing problems, because they're offering too little money for too few qualifications:

How do I know that the state isn't serious about reforming its test programs? The job in question is the director of the Division of Educational Testing for the state, and the advertised salary for the post is $94,543 a year. After some unspecified period of time and "performance advances," the salary could reach a maximum of $119, 658.

Let's put this into perspective. This is about the pay scale of an elementary school principal in New York City. Middle and High School principals make more...

The requirements for the post also suggest that the state is not serious in finding a high-powered person. Only a non-specific Masters degree is required, which could be satisfied by an M.S. in animal husbandry, along with just seven years of educational experience , three of which must be in testing and assessment.

This may be a sign of desperation, as opposed to flippancy. Even non-managerial psychometrician positions usually require a Ph.D; a director's position should include both that degree and substantial (over 10 years) experience. Those folks are few and far between, so moving the job requirement goalposts might be the only way New York sees to open up the applicant pool. Certainly, a person who possesses the doctorate and enough experience to do this job right is going to charge more than $119K and change.

I agree with Wolf that in this case, NY just might get what they pay for - and they might end up paying for it, later.

(Cross-posted at JoanneJacobs.com.) -------------------------See our latest EduPosts right here.