Pittsburgh Public Schools spent at least $288 million on salaries and other kinds of pay, like overtime, during the 2020-2021 school year.
The 4,485 salaried and non-salaried employees earned a median of roughly $61,000. Of those employees, 724 made more than $100,000.
Aggregate data provided by the district revealed gender and racial wage gaps among the workforce. White employees made around $19,000 more than Black employees on average, and men earned about $2,000 more than women on average. The biggest discrepancy was between white men, who earned an average of about $71,000 per year, and Black men, who earned an average of $49,000 per year. White women earned an average of about $68,500 and Black women an average of $50,500.
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 other central office staff and several employees in the maintenance department.
Former Superintendent Anthony Hamlet earned $229,473. Kyle Vogt, an administrator for the maintenance department, was the second highest paid employee at $158,396.
Overtime pay contributed significantly to the maintenance department employees who show up in the top 25. The district paid out $9.4 million in overtime and supplemental pay in 2020-2021.
There were about 250 substitute teachers last school year who earned $15,000 on average. 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.
*An earlier version of the chart below showed some people’s earnings to be higher than they were. A PPS spokesperson said the reason for this discrepancy was some data was entered by hand and then added twice.
Most teachers earned between $90,000 and $100,000
The district employed 1,814 K-12 teachers in 2021:
- 86% of the teachers were white
- 71% were identified as female
- 57% earned between $90,000 and $110,000 per year.
The students in the district are 69% students of color and predominantly low income.
Most teachers (64%) 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 just under 500 classroom aides, 53% of whom are Black, the vast majority of of whom earned between $26,000 and $53,000.
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.
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 an average salary of $65,000 per year, the lowest in the district. Arlington K-8, Montessori K-5, Spring Hill K-5, Sterret 6-8, Westinghouse 6-12, Allegheny 6-8, King 6-8, 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.
Only 3% of teachers left the district after the 2020-2021 school year. The district administration, by contrast, saw an exodus in 2021.
Correction (4/26/2022): The original data provided by PPS was incomplete and contained errors. This article has been updated to reflect corrections in the data provided by PPS.
Oliver Morrison is PublicSource’s K-12 education reporter. He can be reached at oliver@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ORMorrison.
This story was fact-checked by Charlie Wolfson.
