Records: $200,000 for ex-Illinois education superintendent

State records show that the former Illinois education superintendent left the position earlier this year with nearly $207,000 in severance and unused vacation payments.

Christopher Koch received $89,000 in severance and $118,000 for 138.5 unused vacation days, the Chicago Tribune found in a public records request.

Records also show that several dozen other Illinois State Board of Education staffers who left the agency also received cash bonuses and unused vacation, sick and personal day payments, which total $500,000 including Koch's payments.

Koch had the job for more than eight years under Democratic administrations. He left the position in May after GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner started his term and recommended new superintendent Tony Smith for the job.

The Tribune reports lawmakers have questioned why Koch received severance when he left because his contract expired. ISBE officials told the Tribune that Koch "served the state honorably for over 20 years."

A spokesman for Illinois State Board of Education said it would have no comment. Koch did not immediately respond to calls or emails from The Associated Press requesting comment at his new employer, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.

State Rep. David Harris, a Republican from Arlington Heights, said such payments can be troublesome.

"These are public dollars, and we're in a tight situation. As a matter of policy, these things ought to be looked at and have some rationality," Harris said.

Separately, the House State Government Administration Committee held a hearing this summer when the Tribune reported Smith's contract includes a perk expected to be worth thousands of dollars in addition to his $225,000 salary.

Smith receives a less lucrative retirement plan designed to control pension costs. The board said the money is necessary so Smith's compensation matches Koch's retirement benefits.

State Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat and chairman of the government administration committee, has asked Smith and state board chairman James Meeks to appear at a Tuesday hearing to explain Smith's stipend. Franks said he thinks Smith should voluntarily give up the stipend.