BUFFALO – In January, M&T Bank Corp. Chairman Robert Wilmers, who has long been involved in educational efforts in the Buffalo area, delivered a speech on the condition of Buffalo Public Schools.

A few short sentences from his speech, published by the Buffalo News, summed up the dire situation:

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“The BPS student graduation rate in 2014 was 55%, a slight decline from the previous year of 56%. Although it’s generally accepted that these statistics are evidence of a larger nationwide problem, do you realize that the city of Buffalo graduates a smaller percentage of its students than cities such as New Orleans, Baltimore, Cleveland, Newark and Detroit?

“Further, 77% of Buffalo Public Schools are priority or focus schools. To say it differently, four out of every five Buffalo Public Schools are now failing, based on academic standards established by NYSED. Conversely, across New York State, approximately four out of every five schools are in good academic standing.

“Buffalo’s resolution to this problem is seemingly to close existing buildings and reopen them with a new name, while simply reshuffling administration and the same students. While this remedy may obtain a temporary seal of ‘good standing,’ it ultimately fails to address the underlying problems.”

So who is responsible for this mess?

The obvious answer is the school board, which is elected to govern the district. School board members are elected, and can’t be fired, but the voters can hold them accountable at the next election, or perhaps recall them.

Administrators are more easy to remove, and in Buffalo a strong argument could be made that many of them should have been removed a long time ago.

Instead they are being rewarded – quite handsomely – for their efforts, regardless of the outcomes they produce.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

At least that was the case in the 2014 fiscal year, when records show that 88 Buffalo school district employees, most of them administrators directly responsible for oversight of student learning, made at least $100,000 in gross salary, according to statistics published by Newsday.com.

Those employees made a combined $9.9 million that year. And that’s just gross salary, not counting bonuses, benefits and other extra income.

The 10 highest salaries went to Superintendent Pamela Brown, who made a whopping $239,500; Associate Superintendent Will Keresztes ($146,300), Chief of Strategic Alignment and Innovation David Mauricio ($140,557), Associate Superintendent Margaret Boorady ($140,107), Associate Superintendent Casandra Harrington ($140,107), Principal Crystal Barton ($129,887), Principal Darren Brown ($129,612), Principal Michael Mogavero ($129,494), Principal James Weimer ($128,625), and Principal Susan Doyle ($128,118).

One obvious problem with the district may be top-heavy administration. In the list of the 88 employees who cracked six figures, there was a superintendent, a chief operating officer (isn’t that what the superintendent is supposed to be?), five associate superintendents, and two assistant superintendents.

That large group at the power pinnacle made a combined $1.2 million, and probably close to $2 million when benefits and all the extras are thrown in.

What did they produce in exchange for that kind of money? A district in which four out of every five schools are failing.

Principals and assistant principals – the people most directly accountable for the dismal performance in all those struggling schools, also made out quite well.

A total of 44 building principals made the list of the top 88 salaries. That’s half. Fifteen of the top 25 salaries went to principals.

There were also 15 assistant principals listed among the top 88 earners.

There was also some flagrant waste of salary going on.  Ranking 17th on the salary list was a person named Eileen Tschari, whose job title or former job title was not listed. But the database revealed that she was paid a $119,197 settlement in 2014.

At least one handsomely paid administrator is now out of the picture. The school board accepted the resignation of Superintendent Brown in June 2014, according to the Buffalo News.

But it was pretty expensive to get rid of her. She was paid a full year’s salary, a $10,000 bonus, $2,000 to provide the district with continuing consulting services for several months, and $9,167 in unused vacation pay, according to the newspaper report.

Jason McCarthy, a board member who opposed the terms of the buyout, called the package “fiscally irresponsible,” according to the Buffalo News.

Brown also received several glowing letters of recommendation, which she apparently wrote herself and were signed by the school board president. She eventually landed another six-figure job at a school district in California, according to media reports.