Transparency In School Pay
Sacramento, CA — California’s controller has set up a new tool giving the public access to salaries, benefits and other compensation data for about a third of the K-12 agencies in the state. That adds up to more than $20.3 billion in total wages and nearly $5 billion in total retirement and health costs.
Controller John Chiang says, “After the City of Bell demonstrated how the absence of transparency and accountability can breed fiscal mismanagement, we created a one-stop resource detailing compensation data for every public official and employee. Through greater transparency, we strive to empower parents and communities to more meaningfully engage in local decision-making over how their school dollars are being spent.”
There is no state law forcing all K-12 agencies to file a report. Those agencies that did submit the information did it voluntarily. That data shows the range in salaries for 2013. The highest-paid Superintendent in the state received $612,686 in total wages and the median was $152,024. The top pay for principal was $182,850 with an average of $107,191. The highest paid teacher/instructor received $466,750 the median was $61,266. To view the information provided by Mother Lode K-12 agencies click here.
In all, 905 agencies declined to provide the information, another 281 filed a compensation report, but there were errors. (Click here to view those schools.)
One note, the information on the site does not name individuals. However, you can click here to view an earlier story with data put out by the California Policy Center that includes more detailed information.