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The Texas public school system has been bashed by conservative and grassroots activists for years. They’ve been spending big for years, and yet student results continue to decline. We might finally know why.
According to reporting from Texas Scorecard, Texas Education Agency data shows that at least 16 Texas ISD superintendents are making over $400,000 a year—which means they’re paid more than the President of the United States.
The Scorecard highlighted specifically the superintendent of Harlandale ISD, who TEA data shows is paid as much as $627,749. That does, however, appear to be disputed, with a Harlandale spokesperson saying he’s paid $350,000.
Noted school choice activist and Heritage Foundation research fellow Corey DeAngelis says that overall there is a massive problem when it comes to the overpaying of superintendents, and believes it motivates them politically.
“This is why the superintendents fought against school choice in such a fierce way,” he said. “They know they’re not providing additional value.” He added that superintendents have been able to collect these massive paychecks without delivering student results for years because they’ve been insulated from any competition in education.
DeAngelis went on to say that everyone from taxpayers to teachers should be upset about this, because these big salaries force property taxes up while restricting how much money is available to fund teachers and classrooms.
“Resources are finite,” he explained. “You only have so many taxpayer dollars to squander, and if it’s going toward the superintendents, it’s not going to the teachers.”