New data from the Empire Center for Public Policy shows that Long Island educators are among the highest paid employees in the state of New York, outside of New York City. The data found that 61,500 members of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System were paid $100,000 or more during the last school year. About 68 of the top 100 earners worked for Long Island districts, including seven of the top 10.
More than half of them worked for schools or community colleges on Long Island. That includes a former Central Islip teacher who took home more than $500,000 last year.
Empire Center economist E.J. McMahon told Newsday that this is a "principal reason that taxes on Long Island are so high.”