$700,000 for overseeing 6,600 students?

New York City Chancellor Carmen Farina oversees more than a million students, 1,700 schools and a budget the size of many states. Her pay: $412,193.

Los Angeles Unified Supt. John Deasy has half a million students, 1,000-plus schools, a $7-billion budget ― and made $393,106 last year.

Supt. Jose Fernandez's South Bay school district has just 6,600 students, five high schools and a $70-million budget but his earnings was $674,559 last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"I don't know of anybody, in any major city, who makes anything close to that, even with extra bonuses or compensation," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, based in Washington.

California Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson called Fernandez's compensation package at Centinela Valley Union High School District "wrong, significantly excessive, unreasonable."

After his pay came to light in articles in the Daily Breeze, Fernandez voluntarily surrendered some perks, including the balance of his annual raise; he did not provide specifics.

He defended his contract, saying that it was an emergency arrangement that offered a high payoff in exchange for high risk.

"This district was going 80 miles an hour straight into a brick wall, and I had to get into that car," Fernandez said. "This thing could have gone south in six months," doing serious harm to his professional reputation.