Twenty-two percent of public school teachers and administrators in New York school districts outside New York City—including about half in the city’s suburbs—were paid more than $100,000 during the 2015-16 school year, according to data added today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website.

“School taxes make up the biggest part of our property tax bills, and personnel costs make up the biggest part of our school budgets,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “Taxpayers have a right to examine that spending and decide for themselves whether they’re getting their money’s worth.”

The number of teachers and administrators collecting six-figure pay has nearly doubled since the salary data were first posted on SeeThroughNY in 2008-09, Hoefer said. As of 2015-16, 54 percent of Westchester County teachers and administrators were paid more than $100,000, as were 48 percent of those on Long Island.

SeeThroughNY’s school district pay data are based on information reported by the districts to the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, which covers all educational professionals employed outside New York City, and the New York State and Local Retirement System, to which other employees belong. While the highest pay generally goes to superintendents, the amounts also include added severance payments to retiring teachers and other employees.

School district contracts with teachers unions and superintendents can also be examined on SeeThroughNY.

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and do business.