Sangamon Sun

The top 20 highest-paid teachers in Porta CUSD 202 each earned more than $66,000 in total compensation in 2014, according to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

The amount reflects teachers' full adjusted pay - a calculation which includes benefits and all pension contributions by taxpayers for each teacher, and reflects a full year of work instead of the nine months teachers actually worked.

Records show that in 2014, Kathy Ann Blankenhorn, a teacher at Petersburg Elementary School at P.O. Box 202, received $97,779.32, the highest full adjusted pay among all teachers in the district.

Included in that amount was $36,100.16 in taxpayer-funded benefits, $28,239.99 in retirement benefits, and $7,860.17 in other benefits.

Overall, the total amount Porta CUSD 202 spent on its 20 highest-paid teachers in 2014 was $1,430,562.11.

Porta CUSD 202 had 81 teachers in 2014.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 Census American Community Survey, the median household income for Illinois was $57,444 in 2014.

ISBE is responsible for administering public education in Illinois and consists of nine board members appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate.

*Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly noted the teacher benefits data was from fiscal year 2015 when it was actually from fiscal year 2014. We have updated the story accordingly.