You can't educate kids in the classroom when you're funding an expensive education bureaucracy.

 

Our auditors found 30,000 educators in Illinois pulling down more than $100,000 each in 2017, costing taxpayers $3.7 billion annually. Just 18,000 of these employees are currently working while the other 12,000 are retired, collecting six-figure pensions.

 

Some of the worst performing school districts award the largest salaries, but it hasn't helped students scores.

 

For example, Calumet CSD 155 Superintendent Troy Paraday made $407,145 last year managing a district with just 1,100 students and 79 teachers. Nearly 70 percent of students at Calumet are from low-income homes and just 16 percent of students are considered ready for the next level.

 

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Paraday's five-year contract will cost taxpayers $3 million. Review our worksheet of cash compensation and benefits here.

 

When Paraday retires next month, he will cash in 567 days of unused vacation, sick time, and personal days for a $762,000 payout. It's a nice Halloween treat funded by taxpayers.

 

The bloated Illinois education bureaucracy rewards those who know how to play the pay-and-pension lottery. It's time the dollars start following the children rather than the bureaucracy.