Illinois school district’s teachers decry lavish superintendent salary while pressing for pay raises

An Illinois school district has stalled on salary negotiations with the local teachers’ union while approving $285,000 annually for its incoming superintendent – almost $50,000 more than the governor’s $237,900.

“It’s like we really don’t matter, but we’re the frontliners in the school system,” Maria Altamirano, a fifth-grade bilingual teacher in the Rockford Public Schools (RPS) district, told WIFR.com. “We’re the ones that are there with the students.”

Altamirano and almost 2,000 other Rockford Education Association (REA) members have been working at the district without any new contract since June 30.

Since October, negotiations have entered federal mediation with a focus on salaries, special education caseload and retiree health insurance, according to WIFR.

“According to the latest Illinois Report Card, the average salary at RPS falls behind the state by nearly $7,000, with the district sitting at $71,486,” Nathaniel Langley wrote for the news outlet. “RPS’s employment website shows most teaching positions start pay of around $43,000.”

“Are teachers not owed a decent salary?”

If school employees exceed the governor’s statutory salary, state law requires the district to pay a penalty fee – which could exceed $5,000 a year because of Superintendent Dr. Larry Huff’s salary, Langley noted.

“One of the last battles that we have in the contract has to do with retiree health insurance, and part of the talk back and forth has to do with penalties that the district does not want to incur,” said Claudia Marshall, REA president.

“They are standing firm and putting their feet and heels in the ground on any penalties paid out for teachers. But we’re going to start with huge penalties … for the new superintendent.”

Marshall took issue with the district’s explanation of high administrative-level salaries as required to draw “someone of quality” as superintendent.

“What about quality teachers?” she told journalists. “Are teachers not owed a decent salary to show their value and worth to get quality?”

The district’s school board also drew criticism from Marshall, who called out board members Kimberly Haley, Tiana McCall and Denise Pearson as having previously received REA endorsements.

“It will certainly be hard to endorse anyone that ignores emails and calls during a very difficult, difficult time of negotiations,” she said. “To hide and remain silent is not the type of endorsement that we were seeking.”

The district enrolled about 28,000 students in the 2025 academic year. 

‘My bills aren’t going to stop‘

Another educator and former RPS student, Chloe Roper, teaches fourth grade at Johnson Elementary School.

“When I was little, I thought there were three jobs,” she recalled. “I could either be a police officer, a firefighter, or a teacher. So I said, ‘We’ll be a teacher.’”

Although she enjoys her work, Roper decided to get a second job as a restaurant waitress to meet her living expenses.

“You kind of just go into almost a survival mode where you’re just like, ‘My bills aren’t going to stop. I have to do this,’” said the 29-year-old, who is expecting a baby in March.

“To kind of see things change has been really saddening.”