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Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith will now make $247,000, a 28 percent raise.

(Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian)

Portland School Board members voted 5-2 to grant Superintendent Carole Smith a 28 percent raise and a three-year contract extension, bumping her pay up to $247,000 and making her the highest-paid schools chief in Oregon.

Board chairwoman Pam Knowles said she believed Smith's willingness to "stick with it through really tough times" were key to the board's recommendation. Smith, a longtime Oregon educator, took over the state's largest district in 2007.

"Her longevity and laser-like focus to make sure all students achieve – not just those that always will -- to me, that has been a tremendous benefit for this district," said Knowles.

Smith earned $190,000 for the first six years, then received an increase to $193,000 last year.

Two of the district’s seven board members – Steve Buel and Tom Koehler – disagreed with the proposal on Monday, along with multiple teachers and parents who spoke before the board.

Koehler said he couldn’t support a 28 percent raise on behalf of the taxpayers.

"I feel like this deal doesn't represent the best deal that we can negotiate on behalf of our taxpayers," he said.

Buel, who has strong backing from the teachers union, said he believed the superintendent should be earning the same raise of 2.3 percent that teachers received after a protracted contract battle.

In addition to the raise, the board has also increased Smith's tax-sheltered monthly payments from $1,500 to $2,500.

The 5-2 vote is an indication of an increasingly fractured board, as well as growing concern from some teacher and parents about Smith's position as the leader of the 48,000-student district.

The board members who approved the raise pointed to Smith's ability to lead during times of constrained state funding, as well as an increase in the graduation rate from 53 percent to 67 percent during her tenure.

Knowles also said a Council of Great City Schools survey has shown superintendents in a big-city district only stay for an average of three years, less than half of Smith's own seven-year stint. She also mentioned that the average salary for an urban superintendent with a tenure of five years or more in the districts is $247,000.

Smith will earn at least $45,000 more than all superintendents in Oregon, but her pay is still behind the salary of Seattle's last superintendent, who made $270,000.

Board member Bobbie Regan, who had opposed an earlier private proposal to increase her pay to $257,000, said she believed it's essential to allow Smith's salary to compete within the market.

"It is a significant increase and I acknowledge it," she said, "But it's likely where we would need to be if we were out in the market looking for a superintendent."

This year, Smith faced one of the most difficult years yet in her seven-year tenure: she presided over the school system as it stood on the brink a teachers strike. A last-minute deal averted a walkout.

Teachers have continued to express their dissatisfaction with Smith's leadership, months after the contract deal. Multiple teachers union members, clad in blue Portland Association of Teachers t-shirts, showed to the meeting on Monday to express their unhappiness with the compensation package.

Teachers union vice-president Suzanne Cohen said the board should put more money back in the classroom, instead of giving Smith such an increase.

“There’s no way to get around that it’s a bloated raise,” she said.

-- Nicole Dungca

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