Detroit Public Schools employee salaries, 2008-2011

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Detroit Public Schools employee salaries are public information under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.

As of 2010, the average pay of a Michigan public school teacher was 16.5% higher than in Indiana, according to the most recent salary comparison from the U.S. Department of Education.

Salary information

In July 2011, Detroit public school teachers took a 10% wage cut and paid more for health care, measures designed to save nearly $82 million to begin addressing the district’s $327 million deficit. The 10% wage cuts became effective in late August and in early September, employees began paying for 20% of their health care benefits.

In response, three unions representing 10,000 DPS employees sued over the new measures, as reported by Crain’s Detroit Business. The president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers claimed that the cuts were “an unprecedented power grab.” The unions sought an injunction to block the changes, made pursuant to new state legislation expanding the power of emergency financial managers, in this case the Emergency Financial Manager and State Treasurer, who approved the cuts. Both declined to comment on the suit, but stated that the they were discouraged by the overall unwillingness to work together.

Detroit Public Schools salary schedule for certified, contract teachers

Step	Less than a master’s degree	Master’s degree	Master’s degree plus 30 hours/JD	Doctorate
1	$38,297	$40,121	$40,121	$40,721
2	$39,288	$43,619	$43,919	$44,219
3	$41,316	$46,127	$46,427	$46,727
4	$43,284	$48,573	$48,873	$49,173
5	$45,310	$51,012	$51,312	$51,612
6	$47,343	$53,529	$53,829	$54,129
7	$49,381	$55,962	$56,262	$56,562
8	$51,343	$58,477	$58,777	$59,077
9	$53,369	$60,917	$61,217	$61,517
10	$60,208	$70,046	$70,346	$70,646
11	------	------	$70,746	$71,046

DPS highest paid workers

In March 2011, Michigan Capitol Confidential (CAPCON) reported that following the pay scale revisions for principals in 2010, twice as many Detroit Public School employees earned six-figure salaries. The district’s deficit grew from $110 million in 2010 to $327 million at the time the article was published.

$100k + employees at Detroit Public Schools

Detroit Public Schools Spokesman Steve Wasko announced in February 2011 that the $327 million deficit would require closing half the district’s schools, laying off teachers and enforcing teacher pay cuts. In March 2011, Michigan Capital Confidential (CAPCON) reported that in spite of the deficit, many school officials received pay increases from 2008 to 2009.

Overall, there were 50 employees making $100,000+. Fourteen of the 21 DPS employees that made over $100,000 in both 2008 and 2009 saw a salary increase. Overall, however, the number of employees making six figures in the district dropped.

The fiscal year 2008-2009 budget allocated a total personnel cost of $1,010,633,857. Detroit City Schools spent $406,160,572.21 on teacher salaries and $175,381,935.34 on benefits in 2009-2010.

Expenditure	Cost
Salary	$695,770,335
Employee insurance benefits	$135,561,757
FICA/retirement/unemployment/WC	$177,686,825
Total personnel expenditures	$1,010,633,857

Projected pension cost

The 2012 adopted budget reflected the state-mandated pension rate of 24.46%, an increase from the rate of 20.66% in 2011. To offset the pension rate increase, DPS received approximately $100 more per pupil.

Projected pension costs

Year	Cost	Contribution rate
FY 2009 actual	$115,558,380	16.54%
FY 2010 actual	$101,429,507	16.94%
FY 2011 amended	$105,975,188	20.66%
FY 2012 adopted	$107,092,459	24.46%

Pension spending accounted for 15.9% ($38,872,309) of the total operating budget in 2012.

Salary records project

In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):

1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. New Jersey
6. Pennsylvania
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin

Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.

The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.

A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions. The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.

The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701. The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.

Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.

See also

• Michigan local government salary: Counties
• Public employee salary

External links

• State Budget Solutions -- Michigan