By Ted Dabrowski of Wirepoints

The near-$500,000 salary being doled out to a superintendent in a failing school district captures the absurdity that is Illinois governance. The big-pay-for-failure is tied to at least three major problems that Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his Democratic supermajorities continue to perpetuate: near-zero accountability at public schools; the nation’s highest property taxes; and the unfairness of Illinois’ pension system.

First the background. The Lansing Journal reports that Dolton School District 148’s Superintendent Kevin J. Nohelty is set to receive a salary of $480,000, a hike of $30,000. Nohelty’s pay increases, up $188,000 since 2019, look like the surge that many superintendents in Illinois get at the end of their careers. Salary spiking, they call it. It pumps up operating costs and eventually, it turns into a big pension. More on that later.

$500,000 pay is executive-level pay usually reserved for big time performers, so let’s see what success looks like at Dolton’s elementary school district. Nearly 2,000 kids attend the district and here’s the data straight from the Illinois Report Card and the Illinois State Board of Education.

• Kids reading at grade level: 19%
• Kids doing math at grade level: 7%
• Student chronic absenteeism: 47%
• Teachers with 10+ days absences: 69%
• Teachers rated “Excellent or Proficient”: 97%

Most Dolton kids can’t read and they can’t do math. Many are several grades behind. It’s a sad situation that’s playing out in districts across the state, not just in Dolton. And yet the system is consistently rewarded – handsomely. Property taxes go higher and higher. And so do budget-breaking pensions. Nohelty’s big raise is just another sign at just how little accountability there is to everyday Illinoisans. Read our full report here for an in-depth review of just how deep the problems have become.

Now, don’t think Kevin Nohelty is the only one. There are a whole bunch of big-paid superintendents in the state. It’s just that Nohelty has the top spot. Keep an eye on what happens in other school districts going forward. Nohelty is now the benchmark and others will follow. “We have to be competitive,” they’ll say.

Below are the results of the top 20 paid supers statewide.

The other problem with the big salaries is that they turn into massive pensions: $300,000-plus yearly pensions for the big supers. And they turn into $8 to $10 million in total lifetime payouts.

The formulas for pensions, not just for the big guys but for all beneficiaries, is that they are overly generous. They don’t have to put much money in to get big money out. Check out how little they put in compared to their current yearly pensions.

What’s fascinating about this malgovernance is that it’s happening at the same time that Illinois’ legislature is looking to attack homeschooling. State lawmakers can’t hold accountable what they do control, and yet they now want to make a mess for homeschoolers and homeschooling.

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All of the above is part of what I call “legal corruption” in Illinois. Lawmakers get away with it because they can. Because we let them.

Nothing will change until we reject the malgovernance, and then replace it with something more normal. More fair. And more accountable.