Twenty-three percent of public school teachers and administrators in New York school districts outside New York City were paid more than $100,000 during the 2016-17 school year, according to data added today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website.
“Given New York’s extraordinarily high property taxes—most of which go to pay for schools—it is critical that taxpayers be able to examine where that money goes, and thanks to SeeThroughNY they can,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center.
The number of teachers and administrators collecting six-figure pay has nearly doubled—from 32,914 to 54,539—since the salary data were first posted on SeeThroughNY in 2008-09, Hoefer said. As of 2016-17, 55 percent of Westchester County teachers and administrators were paid more than $100,000, as were 49 percent of those on Long Island. Hoefer noted that the trend reflects salary increases required by union contracts. School district contracts with teachers unions and superintendents can also be examined on SeeThroughNY.
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.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and do business.