Photo by ssteege1.

It’s tough to measure how much being the chancellor of the District’s public school system is actually worth, but Kaya Henderson’s current salary seems to offer a hint: $275,000 a year, plus a $12,500 signing bonus.

Yesterday, the D.C. Council approved that signing bonus for Henderson while capping her pay at $275,000, part of a larger package aimed at putting a limit on executive government salaries.

While the District’s top officials will now be limited to pay of $179,096, Henderson, Police Chief Cathy Lanier, Fire/EMS Chief Keith Ellerbe and D.C. Chief Medical Examiner Marie Pierre-Louis will enjoy exemptions. All but Ellerbe’s salaries were negotiated by former mayor Adrian Fenty.

Henderson’s signing bonus was agreed to when she took on the job after Michelle Rhee’s resignation late last year, but whomever takes the position after her — or anyone replacing Lanier, Ellerbe and Pierre-Louis, for that matter — will have to abide by the new salary caps. For the chancellor’s position, that will mean a pay cut of close to $100,000.

Lanier now makes $253,817, Ellerbe takes in $187,302 and Pierre-Louis earns $185,000.