Troy - 10-YEAR Staffing Pay Comparison - Teachers and Superintendent

[Shadowninja]

WELL... THAT RAISED ANOTHER QUESTION.

A little while ago, Lady Budgetdown opened Troy's 10-year ledger to answer a question about average teacher salaries.

And naturally, another question wandered in. 🐇

What happened to administrator salaries over those same 10 years?

Fair question. So I went looking.

Unfortunately, Michigan's Bulletin 1014 makes the teacher side easy. It gives us an average teacher salary.

It does not give us an average administrator salary.

I tried finding enough consistent information to calculate one for Troy's central administration.

No luck.

And Lady Budgetdown isn't going to mash together different job titles, different positions and different years just to produce a number. 🪶

But there was one administrative position I could follow reasonably well across roughly the same decade:
The superintendent.

Not because I'm singling out the superintendent.

Because that's the position for which I could actually find comparable receipts.

So, back to the ledger.

When Richard Machesky became Troy's superintendent in July 2014, his reported starting salary was:
$178,000

A 2024 Troy civic guide reported his salary at:
$251,476

That's an increase of:
$73,476, or approximately 41.3%.

Now put that beside the number we just pulled from Michigan's Bulletin 1014:

🍎 Average teacher salary:
$73,622 → $81,669
+10.9%

🏫 Superintendent salary:
$178,000 → $251,476
+41.3%

📈 Inflation:
+35.83%

So over roughly the same decade, Troy's average teacher salary increased 10.9%, while the superintendent salary increased approximately 41.3%.

That does not tell us what every administrator received.

It does not tell us whether either salary is too high or too low.

And it does not tell us what anyone should be paid.

It tells us exactly what Lady Budgetdown likes the ledger to tell us:

What changed.

I would have loved to give you the same 10-year comparison for Troy's entire central administration.

I couldn't find the consistent data to do it responsibly.

So I'm not going to pretend I did. 👑

Sometimes the rabbit hole ends with a giant spreadsheet.

Sometimes it ends with two numbers and a very important footnote. 😂📚

Sources:
• Michigan Department of Education — Bulletin 1014, 2014–15 and 2024–25
• Michigan court records — Richard Machesky's reported July 2014 starting salary
• League of Women Voters of Troy — 2024 civic guide

With receipts and respect. 🪶

#LadyBudgetdown #TroyPublicSchools #TeacherPay #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #MichiganSchools #FollowTheReceipts