The salary of many public sector employees in our region is just a click away. The latest edition went live in late July. The database features about 300,000 names — of which about 100,000 are teachers in public and charter schools.
For nearly a decade, St. Louis Post-Dispatch data journalist Josh Renaud has worked to produce the paper’s massive, annual database of public salaries.
Renaud sees the newspaper’s database as a tool of accountability. “The public deserves to know how tax money is being spent and whether it's being misspent,” he said. “We are putting attention on these different government agencies and we're letting them know that we're paying attention.”
It’s not just government officials in the database.
“It might be bus drivers at Metro, it might be judges, it might be people working at the State of Missouri, University of Missouri, University of Illinois — even some places that you might not think about, like the St. Louis Zoo or the Science Center, which received tax revenue through the zoo museum district.”
On St. Louis on the Air, Renaud described the project’s monthslong effort of data collection and how it impacts governments large and small. He also discussed the factors behind the City of St. Louis’ “glacial” 100 days to produce its pay records.
To hear the full conversation with Post-Dispatch journalist Josh Renaud, listen to “St. Louis on the Air” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The production intern is Darrious Varner. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
