NEWARK, N.J. – It’s hardly a secret that the Newark, Jersey school district is a financial disaster.

In 2013 it had a budget deficit of $57 million, according to media reports. A year later the shortfall wasn’t quite so large, but was still a staggering $42 million.

The district has incurred a lot of negative publicity for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on travel agencies, catering services, restaurants and various forms of entertainment.

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Last year a prominent state senator called for an investigation of reports that the school district spent $22,000 per month for 15 months on catered meals and take-out food.

But there’s more to the story than all of that. The school district spends a great deal of money on unnecessarily lavish labor costs, as well.

Some are the result of various provisions in the district’s teacher union contract. A good example is a very generous paid sick and personal day policy, which forced the district to spend about $13.7 million on salaries for absent teachers in the 2013-14 academic year, as well as $2.5 million as compensation for unused sick days.

Inflated salaries, mostly for administrators, have been another huge problem. In 2012-13 the school district paid 292 employees more than $100,000 in straight salary, totaling a staggering $33.4 million.

It’s a wonder Newark taxpayers are not marching in the streets, demanding change and accountability.

The paid absence policies in the teacher union contract are an open invitation to rampant absenteeism.

Employees covered by the contract – which comprise a large percentage of the district payroll – are given 15 paid sick days and three paid personal days for a nine-month school year.

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In 2013-14, the district’s approximately 2,776 teachers took a combined 17,202 sick days and 5,869 personal days. That comes out to an average of 8.3 paid absences per teacher.

They were paid a combined $13.7 million for days they were not working. The district did not respond to a request for the amount of money spent on substitute teachers.

The 8.3 day absence average may seem low, considering teachers are allowed up to 18 paid days off. There is a reason for that. Those with good attendance (which should be the expected norm) are allowed to cash in.

According to the union contract, employees are allowed to accumulate unused sick days without limit. Those who use four or fewer sick days during the course of the school year are allowed to convert their unused sick days to cash at the end of the year, with five unused absences equaling one day of pay.

Retirees are also allowed to cash in their unused sick days.

In 2013-14 the district spent $2.5 million on compensation for unused sick days.

The top salaries in the district should also be a source of outrage for taxpayers.

The top salary in 2012-13 went to state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson, who pulled in $240,000, before the value of benefits was figured in.

Obviously her job must be difficult, but if she really wants to clean up the financial mess, wouldn’t she think twice about accepting so much money?

Nobody else cracked the $200,000 mark, but eight other employees pulled in a minimum of $150,000 apiece in straight salary. All of them were simply listed as “district office” staff.

The district is obviously plagued with a very top-heavy administration at a time when it can least afford it.

Last year Anderson warned that approximately 1,000 teachers could be laid off over the next three years, despite the district’s dismal academic record.

Some of that is due to shrinking enrollment, but with so many students struggling so badly, perhaps the district should strive to keep as many teachers as possible, even if they are teaching smaller classes.

It seems as though the Newark school payroll is based on a lot of misplaced priorities.