Senate GOP finds raise for education commissioner ‘unwarranted and offensive’

By J.T. Stone

New York State Senate Republicans are urging state education leaders to reconsider a 46 percent pay pump they quietly authorized last year for state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa.

In a letter to the state Board of Regents on Friday, the GOP conference wrote that boosting the commissioner’s salary from $334,000 to $489,000 was reckless, unwarranted, and offensive. They argued that the funding would be better spent on providing resources to New York’s students. 

A copy of the letter is available below.

The commissioner defended her raise earlier this week, noting that she had been earning less than eight school superintendents – the majority of whom are on Long Island – who she oversees. She also said  her salary had been dramatically less than other leaders of large institutions, such as SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. and UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez.

Rosa, who took over as commissioner in 2021 after more than a decade on the Board of Regents, is also responsible for the University of the State of New York, which oversees other educational institutions, such as the state museum and library.

“It’s hard to believe that I hold two titles and all of a sudden, you know, there is no increase for the time I’ve been in that role, or even before that, for nine years,” Rosa told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, following her testimony to state lawmakers on the education portion of the governor’s budget.  

The commissioner also noted that she doesn’t receive a housing or transportation allowances and said the pay bump will help her afford her two residences, including an apartment in Albany area.  

“When COVID hit, I left my husband, my house and took a temporary residence here in order to take this job,” she said. “I have dual expenses — I have a house in Rockland County that continues to be, obviously, part of my expense, but I did not ask the board to pay for my house in Rockland.” 

News of the raise was first reported by the Times Union and it was subsequently reported by the New York Post that Rosa also collects a pension worth nearly $120,000. State lawmakers at the budget hearing did not ask Rosa about her pay raise during her nearly four hours of testimony.  

Senate GOP to Board of Regents by Capitol Pressroom on Scribd