Waste of the Day: Texas Superintendent Paid $942,000 to Resign

Topline: A school superintendent in Fort Worth, Texas will earn over $942,000 from taxpayers in a single year after resigning this October, according to records obtained by NBC5.

A Texas version of how much can you pay someone to get lost

Key facts: Former Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Angelica Ramsey’s resignation agreement awards her a lump sum of $550,000. She will also be placed on paid leave with a new job title — “ambassador of public relations” — so that she can keep earning her full salary and benefits until August 2025, worth almost $400,000

Ramsey will also earn $50,000 for her unused vacation and sick days.

It is “significantly more money than the district would have paid her if she was still superintendent,” NBC5 reported.

Supporting quote: Only one school board member, Camille Rodriguez, did not vote in favor of accepting Ramsey’s resignation.

We definitely didn’t have grounds to dismiss her. I … was not looking for a politician. I was looking for an educator to correct the academic progress of our students and get us in the right direction. That’s what Dr. Ramsey was and is.

Critical quote: Pressure mounted on Ramsey to resign after 40 elected officials and community leaders, including the Fort Worth mayor, said student performance in the district is “unacceptable.”

Alex Jimenez, a local business owner who signed the letter, said he blames the problems on the school board, not Ramsey.

That amount of money may look like a win for her, but she was trying to make change and wasn’t allowed to do it. I would suggest to the folks that sign that letter. Don’t take a victory lap. There’s no reason to take a victory lap because we’re, I mean, we haven’t even started to fix the problems.

Typical pay gap

Background: The huge payout only exacerbates the pay gap between Fort Worth ISD’s superintendent and its other employees.

Every year since 2017, the superintendent has earned at least $343,000, according to records at OpenTheBooks.com. No other employee has made more than $265,000.

Last year, 69 people earned more than $120,000, but only two of them were teachers.

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.

Summary: Ramsey’s paid resignation is certainly not unheard of in Texas, but it’s still a reason for concern. The $942,000 could have been used to directly support student performance, not to pay someone to leave their job.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.