Dive Brief:

• Despite pushback from teachers and two board members, the Portland School Board approved (5-2) a proposal to give Superintendent Carole Smith a 28% raise.  
• Advocates of Smith's raise — which will bring her salary up to  $247,000 a year —​ cite her strong leadership skills, as her time at the helm of the 48,0000 student district has seen the graduation rate climb from 53% to 67% along with a loosening of the district's financial constraints.   
• Those against the raise believe Smith should get the same 2.3% raise as teachers.

Dive Insight:

While it would appear Smith has done some great things since becoming Portland's schools chief, the discrepancy between her raise (28%) and the teacher's raise (2.3%) indicate some bigger issues within the education realm. According to a board member opposed to Smith's raise, the teacher raise only came after lots of bargaining and threats of a walk out. This struggle to get a very small raise is juxtaposed with the near-seamless vote in Smith's case.  It would be interesting to find out how the 28% raise was decided and where that figure came from.