MIDLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS: FOLLOW THE COMPENSATION

[Shadowninja]

LADY BUDGETDOWN: MIDLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS: FOLLOW THE COMPENSATION

We've looked at Midland Public Schools' ten-year financial picture. We've looked at enrollment and staffing. Now it's time to open the 2025 compensation ledger. 🔎

And Midland's list is considerably larger than the last district we examined.

💰 89 EMPLOYEES OVER $100,000

Midland Public Schools reported 89 employees with Calendar Year 2025 Medicare Wages exceeding $100,000.

And I want to emphasize the terminology here:

Medicare Wages - not salary.

That's what Midland calls the figure in its transparency report, so that's what Lady Budgetdown is going to call it. 📜

Across all 89 employees:

Combined Medicare Wages:
$9,945,302.80

Combined Total Compensation:
$15,442,703.22

Difference:
$5,497,400.42

That works out to an average of:
$111,744.98 in Medicare Wages
and
$173,513.52 in Total Compensation
per employee appearing on the report.

That roughly $5.50 million difference reflects the additional compensation components Midland reports, including FICA/Medicare, board-paid retirement, annuity, medical/HSA, dental, vision, life/ADD and LTD.

🍎 BUT HERE'S IMPORTANT CONTEXT

Of those 89 employees:
54 are teachers.

That's approximately:
60.7% of the entire list.

The remaining positions include:
10 Principals
6 Assistant Principals
6 Coordinators
4 Directors
4 Supervisors
3 Associate Superintendents
1 Assistant Superintendent
1 Superintendent

So this would not be accurately described as simply a list of highly compensated administrators.

The majority are teachers.

And context matters.

🏛� THE TOP FIVE

The five highest Medicare Wage figures reported were:

Superintendent
$223,752.20 → $350,613.51 Total Compensation

Assistant Superintendent
$157,047.13 → $244,926.32

Principal
$146,487.45 → $194,774.67

Associate Superintendent
$139,602.14 → $220,301.34

Principal
$136,465.47 → $216,465.14

The highest Medicare Wage figure reported for a teacher was:
$112,867.22
with Total Compensation of:
$156,638.76

📜 SO WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?

It tells us exactly what the public record says.

Midland reported 89 employees above the $100,000 Medicare Wage threshold, with approximately $9.95 million in combined Medicare Wages and $15.44 million in Total Compensation.

It also tells us something that's easy to lose when looking only at a big dollar figure:

More than 60% of the employees on this list are teachers.

That matters.

Public compensation records aren't automatically evidence that someone is overpaid.

They also aren't something the public shouldn't examine.

The purpose here isn't to decide what you should think about these numbers.

It's to put the numbers in front of you, with the context necessary to understand them.

Because Lady Budgetdown doesn't lead the ledger.

She follows it.

With receipts and respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #MidlandPublicSchools #MidlandSchools #MidlandCounty #PublicCompensation #EducationTransparency #FollowTheMoney