The top 50 highest paid teachers in Champaign CUSD 4 each earned more than $83,000 in total compensation in 2014, according to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
The amount reflects teachers' full adjusted pay — a calculation which includes benefits and all pension contributions by taxpayers for each teacher, and reflects a full year of work instead of the nine months teachers actually worked.
Records show that in 2014, George A. Pellum, a teacher at Central High School located at 703 S. New St., received $125,948.14, the highest full adjusted pay among all teachers in the district.
Included in that amount was $21,772.33 in taxpayer-funded benefits, $11,475.49 in retirement benefits, and $10,296.84 in other benefits.
Overall, the total amount Champaign CUSD 4 spent on its 50 highest paid teachers in 2014 was $4,693,740.06.
Champaign CUSD 4 had 779 teachers in 2014.
According to the United States Census Bureau's 2014 Census American Community Survey (ACS), the median household income for Illinois was $57,444 in 2014.
ISBE is responsible for administering public education in Illinois and consists of nine board members appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate.
*Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly noted the teacher benefits data was from fiscal year 2015 when it was actually from fiscal year 2014. We have updated the story accordingly.