31 Gym Teachers Earn More Than Town Police Chief

The City of Utica fire chief earns $73,440. Before leaving in March, the Utica police chief made $79,000. The Utica Community Schools has 36 gym teachers who earn more than the fire chief and 31 phys-ed teachers who earned more than the police chief.

UCS closed four of its elementary schools last year to save money as it faced a $33 million deficit in 2010-11. The district’s website blamed politicians “for ongoing failure by the state legislature to bring about stable and ongoing financial reform with regard to Michigan’s public schools.”

Yet, half of the district’s 52 gym teachers make more than $89,500 a year.

Like most schools, gym teachers and science teachers are paid the same in the Utica district. The two highest paid gym teachers made $92,860. The district’s highest paid science teachers also made $92,860. But Utica has twice as many science teachers as gym teachers.

And Utica was second out of 21 Macomb County districts in science scores on the Michigan Merit Exam last year.

Michigan Capitol Confidential has compiled the salaries of gym teachers at many of the districts throughout the state in an effort to highlight how the public school’s salary system compensates based only on seniority and level of education.