The top 20 highest paid teachers in Christopher USD 99 each earned more than $59,000 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, Karen Kay Furlow, a teacher at Christopher High located at 1 Bearcat Drive, received $93,773.66, the highest full adjusted pay among all teachers in the district.
Included in that amount was $14,924.43 in taxpayer-funded benefits, $7,411.83 in retirement benefits, and $7,512.60 in other benefits.
Overall, the total amount Christopher USD spent on its 20 highest paid teachers in 2014 was $1,377,205.93.
Christopher USD had 61 teachers in 2014.
According to the United States Census Bureau's 2014 Census American Community Survey (ACS), 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.