As part of a campaign to make public information more accessible, a New Jersey newspaper has put a list of Pennsylvania teachers' salaries online.

The Asbury Park Press posted the information about a week ago on its Web site.

Interest surged Thursday after Simon Campbell, an education activist in Eastern Pennsylvania, issued a news release and began publicizing the database on his Web site, at www.stopteacherstrikes.org.

The salaries are listed as part of "Data Universe," a project by the Press and its parent, Gannett Co., to give readers better access to public information.

Included are criminal court records, crime reports, property assessments, foreclosure records, home sales data, public contracts and payroll records, including overtime in some cases, for municipal, state and federal employees.

The newspaper first posted salary information for New Jersey teachers and then added Pennsylvania data for comparison purposes.

The paper's Web site says the data, provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, represent 2006-07 salaries for 151,000 public school teachers and administrators.

State education department spokesman Leah Harris said the data appear to reflect base salaries. Actual compensation may be higher because some districts, including the Pittsburgh Public Schools, pay teachers more for longevity, special certification or additional duties.

Mr. Campbell said the database includes all 501 school districts in the state. Charter school employees are listed, too.

Employees are listed by name, along with pay, years of service, whether they have a master's degree and assignment -- "music, secondary," for example.

"There is a tremendous craving for public information," said Paul D'Ambrosio, the paper's investigations editor and Data Universe administrator.

He said Data Universe was launched in December 2006 and has become extremely popular. He said other Gannett papers link to Data Universe, operate their own smaller versions or do both.

The effort caught the eye of Mr. Campbell, who has highlighted teacher salaries in his quest to ban teacher strikes. Mr. Campbell sometimes posts teacher salaries in districts having labor disputes; he has done so with Pittsburgh and other local districts.

Wythe Keever, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said union members may not be thrilled about having their salaries aired publicly.

But, he said, "it's public information ... As an organization, we don't have any problem with it."