Pittsburgh Public Schools' Employee Salaries Show Disparities Between Black And White Staff

Pittsburgh PA

21 April, 2022

5:51 PM

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By Oliver Morrison, Public Source April 21, 2022 Pittsburgh Public Schools spent at least $303 million on salaries and other kinds of pay, like overtime, during the 2020-2021 school year. The 4,676 salaried and non-salaried employees earned a median of roughly $63,000. Of those employees, 830 made more than $100,000. Aggregate data provided by the district revealed gender and racial wage gaps among the workforce. White employees made around $18,000 more than Black employees on average, and men earned about $7,000 more than women on average. White men earned an average of $25,000 per year more than Black women. The largest contingent of the workforce — teachers — is predominantly white, with salaries set according to a pay schedule negotiated between the district and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. Who got paid how much? The former superintendent was joined on the list of the district's highest paid by several employees in the maintenance department, including various foremen and multiple electricians. Former Superintendent Anthony Hamlet earned $229,473. Kyle Vogt, an administrator for the maintenance department, was the second highest paid employee at $221,994. Overtime pay contributed significantly to the maintenance department employees who show up in the top 25. The district paid out $9.5 million in overtime and bonuses in 2020-2021. There were about 250 substitute teachers last school year who earned $9,000 on average and about 50 full-time substitute teachers who earned an average of about $26,000. A lack of substitute teachers has become a nationwide problem during the pandemic. Search how much teachers, administrators and staff at your school earned in 2020-2021. Type in the name of the school in the search field below. PublicSource is a media sponsor of Film Pittsburgh Editor's note: The district provided two sets of data, one set for the calendar year 2021 and one set for the school year 2020-2021. All of the data above was based on the 2020-2021 school year. All of the data below is based on data from the calendar year 2021. PublicSource chose to use both datasets in different analyses because the school-year data had more accurate information about how much the district paid hourly employees and for overtime work. The calendar year data had more complete information about staff job titles and where they lived and worked. Most teachers earned between $90,000 and $110,000 The district employed around 1,850 K-12 teachers in 2021: 86% of the teachers were white 70% were identified as female 62% earned between $90,000 and $120,000 per year. The students in the district are 69% students of color and predominantly low income. Most teachers (58%) had been with the district since at least 2010. According to the union-negotiated pay schedule, it takes about 11 years to start earning the maximum base salary ($99,000). Other incomes are more spread out. For example, PPS employed around 500 classroom aides, 55% of whom are Black, and nearly all earned between $27,000 and $50,000. Where do PPS teachers live? PPS teachers are allowed to live outside of the city, unlike PPS paraprofessionals who have been advocating for a change to their contract on that point. Map of where teachers live: At least 58% of teachers live outside of the city of Pittsburgh. At least 15% live in the city. And for 27% of teachers it's unclear from their ZIP code. The most popular ZIP codes for teachers to live outside of the city are the Ross Township area, Allison Park, the Pleasant Hills area, Coraopolis and Bethel Park. Staff diversity varies widely across the district. For example, five schools in the district have a majority-Black staff that closely mirrors the district's diversity, including Westinghouse Academy, Lincoln K-5, Faison K-5, Weil K-5 and Miller K-5. By contrast, four schools have less than 10% Black staff, including Phillips K-5, South Brook 6-8, Banksville K-5 and Carmalt K-8. Which schools have the least well paid teachers (i.e the least experience)? Teachers at some schools earn significantly less because they are newer teachers. Teachers at Schiller, for example, made a median salary of $63,000 per year, the lowest in the district. Manchester K-8, Montessori K-5, Spring Hill K-5, Sterret 6-8, Westinghouse 6-12, Allegheny 6-8, King 6-8, Banksville K-5 and University Prep at Milliones had the lowest salaries in the district aside from Schiller. Teachers at Roosevelt K-5, the most experienced staff at a school that serves the general population, has an average of 21 years of experience, about three times as much as the least experienced staff at University Prep at Milliones. Fewer than 5% of teachers left the district in 2021. The district administration, by contrast, saw an exodus in 2021. Two-thirds of the 63 employees who worked in the administration building left in 2021, and more than 85% of the 28 special education administrators no longer work at the district. About the data The original data provided by PPS for the calendar year 2021 didn't include how much hourly workers or substitute teachers made and it only provided a half-year of overtime and bonus information. PublicSource negotiated with PPS to provide this additional information, but the district provided it for the school year 2020-2021 instead of for the calendar year. The school year officially runs from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. Because the time periods are different, about 3% of PPS' employees are on the new list but not the other. For those employees, we know accurately how much money they made during the school year but don't know their job title or what department they work in. We asked the district's open records officer to provide this additional information but did not receive a response. Oliver Morrison is PublicSource's K-12 education reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ORMorrison. This story was fact-checked by Charlie Wolfson. This article was produced by PublicSource.org, a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. PublicSource tells stories for a better Pittsburgh. Sign up for their free email newsletters at publicsource.org/newsletters.