|
Op-Ed:
122,258 Illinois public employees earning $100,000+ cost taxpayers $15.8
billion in 2020
[The Center Square] Adam Andrzejewski
While businesses struggled under the
lockdowns put in place by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor
Lori Lightfoot in 2020, the high-earning employees of state and local
government had a record year. |
|
 Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com discovered that more than
122,000 public employees and retirees earned over $100,000 last year, as
compared to 109,000 employees in 2019 who collected that much.
We created an interactive map as a tool for people to see the 122,000 public
employees and retirees across Illinois making more than $100,000 (by ZIP code).
Illinois public school employees and retirees collected the
most six-figure incomes, with nearly 24,500 educators and more than 15,500
retirees pulling in over $100,000. (Most Illinois schools were not back to
full-time, in-person instruction as of March 2021.)
We found 16 retired school superintendents pocketed more than
$300,000 in retirement pensions.
[ to
top of second column] |
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at a school on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
Courtesy of BlueRoomStream
Top educator retirement pensions included Lawrence
A. Wyllie of Lincoln-Way CHSD 210 who collected $351,250; Henry
Bangser of New Trier Township HSD 203 took home $341,433; Gary
Catalani of Wheaton-Warrenville Unit SD 200 got $339,915; Laura
Murray of Homewood-Flossmoor CHSD 233 pocketed $334,418; and Mary
Curley of Hinsdale CCSD 181 collected $324,796.
Like other states struggling to pay the bills during a pandemic,
Illinois would have been wise to pare down its six-figure salaries.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article |
