Educrat Marcia Lyles and Chancellor Joel Klein both make over $200,000 - more than the police commissioner.
Eighteen city education honchos were making more than $190,000 a year when classes began this September - up from just two last year, a Daily News salary analysis found.
That's more than Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and the commissioners of major city departments like Health, Housing and Children's Services, who all make $189,700.
The top execs at the Education Department's Tweed Courthouse headquarters are among only 28 noncourt officials in all of city government who have cracked the $190,000 line. Most of the others are deputy mayors.
"Tweed is too top-heavy," said William McDonald, who heads a citywide group of elected parent leaders. "I don't know what it is these people are doing, but it doesn't seem to be getting down to the kids."
One of the 18 execs has since dropped to part-time status, but even with her out of the mix, the total number drawing salaries above $180,000 has surged to 36 from 20 in September 2006.
"Given their responsibilities, the salaries are appropriate," schools spokesman David Cantor said. "You're talking about the top managers of an agency that employs 140,000 people and educates 1.1 million children."
He pointed out that the number of managers making more than $150,000 dipped from 204 early in the year to 194 in September.
School officials yesterday could not provide details on total administrative salary costs this year compared with last year. A consultant hired to cut fat claims $170 million that once went to the bureaucracy is going to classrooms.
Most of the pay increase was part of a one-year 6.5% bump that went to most city managers last year. That's compared with the 2% increase teachers collected from October 2006 to this October.
The total cost of paying the top 100 people on the school payroll surged by 7.3% from September 2006 to this September.
Those 100 execs cost nearly $18 million.
"It's way too much," said Carlton Richardson, a member of the elected Community Education Council in Brooklyn's District 18. "They need to filter that money down to schools."
City Council Education Committee Chairman Robert Jackson said he has "no problem with paying people a good salary as long as they produce."
But school officials, he said, are leading a system where only 50% of kids earned an on-time diploma last year.
"Overall, as a system, that's failure," he said.
With Tina Moore and Benjamin Lesser
