And they still get summers off.
More than 100 educators outside New York City earned over $300,000 during the 2025-2026 school year, while nearly twice as many surpassed the governor’s salary, according to a new study.
At least 114 educators earned $300,000 or more, marking an increase of nearly 30% from the 90 who reached that threshold during the 2024-2025 school year, the Empire Center reported Tuesday.
The analysis also found that 2,328 educators were paid more than $200,000 in 2025-2026—up 16% from the 2,005 who earned that amount the previous year.
Of those educators, 174 earned more than $250,000, the salary Gov. Kathy Hochul received to lead the state, according to the data.
Some of the highest-paid educators earned nearly twice the governor’s salary while overseeing school districts spanning only a few square miles. Allison Feldman, superintendent of the Roslyn Union Free School District, received $436,976 last school year, the Empire Center found.
Kenneth Bossert, superintendent of Great Neck UFSD, was paid $420,781, while Francesco Ianni, superintendent of Oyster Bay-East Norwich CSD, earned $412,663, according to the study.
The hefty pay packages mirror compensation levels in the New York City area, where administrators overseeing public schools also command substantial salaries. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, for example, earns about $363,000 annually.
The Empire Center based its findings on payroll data for 239,288 public school employees statewide, including teachers, administrators and other staff.
The highest salaries were concentrated in the region surrounding New York City. Long Island recorded the highest average educator pay, at $121,047.
Superintendents on Long Island earned a median annual salary of $302,277.
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Scarsdale UFSD in Westchester County had the highest average pay among individual districts, with its 541 educators earning an average of $156,307. Other districts in the lower Hudson Valley also showed a high concentration of top salaries.
Across New York, educators earned an average of $99,652 annually.
That figure was close to the national average salary for higher education faculty, which was about $105,657 in 2026, according to the National Education Association.
By comparison, the national average salary for teachers was $74,495.
New York’s high public school payroll costs are contributing to a rapidly growing education budget. Spending reached $84.2 billion in 2024, up 16% from $72.4 billion in 2020.
The increase came even as enrollment declined. State public schools lost about 322,808 students over the past 15 years, according to the study.
New York spends roughly $32,000 per student—among the highest per-pupil amounts in the nation and about 81% above the national average.
Yet the additional spending has not translated into strong academic rankings. New York fourth- and eighth-grade students ranked 22nd and 24th, respectively, in reading on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress exams.
Math performance was similarly mixed, with fourth graders ranking 38th and eighth graders 27th nationally.
The results also pointed to an ongoing decline. Reading scores fell 5% from the previous year, while reading proficiency among fifth graders dropped 15%.
School officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday because districts were closed in observance of Veterans Day.
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