The sagging economy has done little to slow the upward creep of public school pay.
A new study released Thursday shows that the highest public school pay in the state outside of New York City is more than $506,000, which is for the superintendent of Long Island’s Syosset school district. The Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative fiscal watchdog group, also says four districts have average teacher salaries of more than $95,000.
A retired South Colonie school district administrator ranks 11th on the list. Two others from the district also made the top 100.
The database shows that the total number of educators shrank, which shows schools are restraining some spending, Empire Center director Tim Hoefer said. Releasing the data shows taxpayers how a large part of their property taxes are spent.
“It’s fodder for the taxpayers when they go to vote on their school budgets,” he said. “As long as my tax dollars are paying their salary, I have a right to know their salary.”
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