RACINE, Wis. – This might be a very good time for taxpayers of the Racine Unified School District to take a long look at the district’s payroll and ask some critical questions.

They may not be getting what they pay for, if the goal is to provide a successful education to the majority of students of the district.

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EAGnews recently looked at a record of salaries and benefits in the Racine school district for the 2013-14 fiscal year, which was the last year currently available.

It was interesting to note that hundreds of district employees had compensation packages worth six figures, yet the school district received an overall academic rating of “meets few expectations” from the state that year.

A total of 516 employees were compensated more than $100,000 in combined salary and benefits. In total they earned $36.6 million in straight salary, and $20.3 million worth of benefits, for a total of nearly $57 million.

At the top of the Racine Unified salary list was District Administrator Ladarla Haws, who made a cool $200,000 in salary and $30,366 worth of benefits, totaling $230,366.

The other top 10 compensation packages went to Assistant Administrator Eric Gallien ($128,152 salary, $19,858 benefits); Central Office Administrator Daniel Thielen ($123,782, $43,152); Assistant Administrator Joan Kuehl ($121,653, $54,075); Business Manager David Hazen ($119,987, $43,683),  Principal Robert Holzem ($117,994, $41,786); Principal Jeffrey Eben ($113,677, $40,221), Principal Angela Apmann ($112,274, $51,979); Principal Cheri Kulland ($104,459, $50,086): and Director of Instruction Christopher Thompson ($103,612, $49,844).

Many of the employees closest to the learning process made the six-figure club.

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There were 319 teachers who made more than $100,000 in combined salary and benefits. Seven building principals and three directors of instruction made more than $100,000 in straight salary, while 17 principals, six assistant principals and four directors of instruction made more than $90,000 in straight salary.

Yet the Racine district’s 2013-14 report card from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction revealed a steady pattern of student underachievement.

In the category of “student achievement,” the district got a 47 out of 100, compared to a state average of 66.4. In “student growth” the district had a 57, compared to a state average of 62.4. In the “on-track and post-secondary readiness” category, the district had a 74.8, compared to the state average of 85.3.

The district had an overall score of 62.1 on a scale of 100, which means the district “meets few expectations.”

And those test scores were apparently a general improvement, at least for many white students in the racially-mixed district. As the district administrator admitted following the 2013-14 school year in an article published by JournalTimes.com, the improvements did not extend to a large number of minority kids.

“While we had a lot of growth, a lot of kids doing better, it was mostly our white middle-class kids and we’ve got to shift our attention to other kids in our schools,” Haws was quoted as saying.

On state tests one year before, “23.1 percent of Unified students scored proficient or advanced on this past fall’s state test compared to 21.6 percent in fall 2012. In math, 28.5 percent of students were proficient or advanced this past fall, up from 27.8 percent in fall 2012, state data shows,” JournalTimes.com reported.

So it seems the Racine district was paying top dollar for academic instruction personnel, but receiving general failure in return.

Has anything changed significantly since then? Hopefully smart taxpayers are making an effort to find out.