Amidst Budget Crisis, Calif. School Superintendents Get Pay Raises

Cashing in rather than cutting back

With California's public school system facing economic uncertainties – even with the passage of a tax increase under Proposition 30 – some of the most financially troubled districts have been elevating the payroll for top administrators, a review of district data shows.

In the 2012-13 school year, a record 188 districts – with about 2.6 million students – have landed on a special California Department of Education list designed to sound the alarm on possible financial peril.

One is the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest district, which has been buried under a cumulative $2.8 billion deficit for the past five years and has eliminated more than 12,000 teaching and staff positions.