North Haven’s Board of Education (BOE) will face tough questions regarding their superintendent choice of Dr. Robert Cronin and the salary they gave him. I’ve considered points they might make:

- “First Selectman Michael Freda was included in the discussion and knew about the salary offer.”

Yes he was, but as we already know, Freda has no decision-making power with the BOE. It's not like he had a vote on this — he only had opportunity to give input. Final offer and vote came down to the BOE, who voted unanimously.

- “Do some research — you'll see that $165,000 is a steal for a quality superintendent.”

Okay, I did. Here's what I found: according to the 2008 North Haven Public School Profile, there were 3,863 students in our system. Given town growth, for arguments sake, let's say there are now 4,000 students. According to AASA, for a school system of such size, the national salary average is $146,072. So, the BOE will pay him $18,928 more than the national average of superintendents managing systems of similar size. Now, they might say that in Connecticut, we naturally pay about four percent higher than national averages. But the BOE offered a salary 11 percent higher than national average.

Other research shows that Dr. Cronin will be paid far more than the average superintendent in Connecticut. According to an Indeed.com salary study, the average salary for a Connecticut school superintendent is $132,000. That's a $33,000, or 25 percent, difference.

- “He's done an excellent job for District 14 and will do excellent things for North Haven.”

If you look at the data, he has done an excellent job in some respects. For instance, schooldigger.com ranks District 14 above North Haven. Out of 166 school districts statewide, District 14 is ranked 73rd, while North Haven is 78th. While it is higher than North Haven, it's only by five slots. Also, District 14 dropped 29 slots since 2008.

- “You’re personally attacking the man before he's started the job.”

No, I’m not. I'm questioning the merit of his starting salary, and the BOE's lacking response when it comes to public concerns. The BOE might try to spin criticism of their decision as personal attacks on him. Such is patently false.

- “When it comes to education, we can't be cheap. This job is more important than any other town position and should be justly compensated for it.”

I fundamentally disagree. First, any school district’s true strength comes from teachers, not its administrators. The message that the BOE has sent to teachers is that you may be cut, but North Haven can afford this high new superintendent salary.

I also do not believe that a superintendent is more important that the fire chief, police chief or even First Selectman — if anything they are a part of a collective equal. Cronin will be making more than all three, and almost double Freda’s compensation. There is a flipside to the “justified compensation” part. In a year where Connecticut has promised some of the biggest cuts in state aid, is the BOE justified in offering the highest salary in town history?

- “It's not the BOE's job to justify anything. It's their job to ensure a high quality education to all students.”

This is the philosophy of North Haven’s BOE. But once again, how can you give high-quality education to students when supplies, teachers and facilities are scraping by, but you can pay this salary? Also, you do have to justify your decisions to the citizens of North Haven. They are the ones who will have to pay for them, and they are the ones who decide how long you'll be able to make these decisions.

Chris Peterson writes The North Haven Way, a longstanding Republican blog. Formerly a North Haven resident, Peterson now resides in Hamden.