Kalamazoo Times

29 Portage Public Schools employees earning $100,000 and above annually in Michigan, according to financial documents.

The highest annual salary earned in Portage Public Schools was $243,674 to Mark Bielang.

The highest salary was $244,323 in 2019.

According to records, 869 individuals received compensation for their work from Portage Public Schools in 2020. Of those, 225 earned less than $20,000.

A report from members of the Federal Salary Council published on May 2, 2019, argued the pay structures within the U.S. government are skewed and federal workers are overpaid.

Downsizing the Federal Government, a project advocating for smaller government in the face of rising deficits, argued over 2 million federal employees earned on average $30,000 more than private-sector employees in similar fields and have more generous benefit packages.

A study published in the Education Next Journal found higher salaries can have important ramifications on the quality of teachers within a school district. It found increasing the skills of a teacher through continued higher education resulted in improved student performance.

Highest paid Portage Public Schools employees

Portage Public Schools employee	Annual salary
Mark Bielang	$243,674
Ronald Herron	$147,539.67
Eric Alburtus	$133,829.97
James French	$133,829.97
Michael Pascoe	$130,236.93
Michael Huber	$129,934.98
Jeanine Mattson-Gearhart	$129,934.98
Daniel Vomastek	$127,863.68
Bradley Galin	$121,398.23
Clinton Wagner	$121,062.47
Elizabeth Hartman	$118,320.16
Travis Thomsen	$117,535.31
Jeffrey Hamilton	$114,969.26
Jason Messenger	$114,941.86
Jason Frink	$114,568.02
Christopher Riker	$113,543.02
Nathan Ledlow	$112,903.6
Joseph Wallace	$109,614.79
Kelly Hinga	$107,221.86
Daniel Wytko	$106,265.39
Heather Yankovich	$105,974.91
Lori Benedict-Kirshman	$105,743.64
Kelly Jensenius	$105,743.64
Jeremy Zonts	$105,743.64
Paula Johnson	$104,552.55
James Schafer	$102,837.56
Kevin Doerfler	$100,934.42
Justin Walker	$100,934.42
Craig Medd	$100,714.17