Common sense salaries for all government employees

Allow me to start with the weakest part of my argument. I say weakest because intuitively I like it, but I honestly cannot point to actual numbers as a foundation.

Salaries could be, should be, relative to each other.

In general, a school principals salary could be locked in at say, "x" times a teacher's salary. A mayor's salary could be "x" times the salary of department heads. Department heads at "x" times white collar workers, who themselves earn "x" times as much as a blue collar worker, and so on.

Establishing relative salaries would eliminate the wide and indefensible disparities that have occurred. Is a superintendent really worth fives times as much as the very best teacher in the district? Is a university president really worth four times as much as a governor. Is an athletic director worth three times as much as the President of the United States?

The current process seems based on only one thing, comparable salaries. When APS is trying to figure out how much to offer a candidate for superintendent, they look at comparable districts, usually Tucson, and then offer slightly more to be "competitive".

(Never mind that there really is no such thing as comparable school districts.)

Then Tucson hires a new superintendent, and they look at Albuquerque, a "comparable" district, and offer their candidates slightly more, to remain "competitive". You end up with an unending upward salary spiral that has no basis in the reality of paying a fair wage for a specific skill set. And a mediocre superintendent making fives times as much as the best teacher that ever walked the planet.

I propose a dispassionate look at government jobs, and the establishment of relative salaries for each position, and adjustments for the cost of living?

Any thoughts?