Sweetheart deals for public school superintendents are in the news—again. And this time, it’s the failing Fort Worth ISD that’s in the spotlight.

Yesterday, media outlets revealed that FWISD had entered into a contractual arrangement with outgoing superintendent Angelica Ramsey, who recently became the source of controversy after Ft. Worth mayor Mattie Parker lambasted the district for abysmal student performance, saying: “Our students , educators, and families deserve better.” The agreement between FWISD and Ramsey is extremely generous, to say the least.

Per NBCDFW5:

“Ramsey stepped down as superintendent effective Sept. 30. The agreement states she will now serve as ‘ambassador of public relations’ for the district until Aug. 30, 2025, but will be on leave until she exits the district next year. During that time, she’ll be paid her normal annual salary of $335,000 plus stipends, which totals about $400,000.

The agreement said that in addition to her salary, Ramsey was to be paid nearly $50,000 for unused vacation, personal leave, and sick days before Oct. 1. She was also to be paid one-half of one year’s salary and benefits, which was another $247,961.

She’ll receive another bulk payment of half her annual salary between Jan. 1, 2025, and Jan. 15, 2025. It brings the total compensation to nearly $950,000.” [emphasis mine]

From a taxpayer perspective, the government’s generosity here, paid for with Other People’s Money, is offensive and it contradicts prior claims that public education is underfunded. In fact, Ramsey herself has argued time-and-again that “we’re in the bottom 10 states in funding for public education” and that Texas needs “to fully fund our schools.” She even blamed the district’s recent money troubles, in part, on “a failure to increase public school funding in the legislature.” It’s hard to see the truth in any of these past statements given Ramsey’s excessive salary, severance, and continued employment as an ‘ambassador of public relations.’ Yeesh!

Of course, it’s not just FWISD engaged in this sort of bad behavior. Many local governmental entities have been caught in the recent past handing out golden parachutes to government employees. Which signals an obvious need for legislative reform.

Thinking ahead, policymakers can rein in this outrageous activity in a few different ways, including:

  • Capping severance pay at a definitive amount, like no more than 20 weeks’ worth of compensation;
  • Withholding payouts altogether in the event of employee misconduct or extreme underperformance; and
  • Requiring severance payment agreements to be prominently posted online, so that the public understands what its money has been committed toward.

None of these reforms are too much to ask and all of them are sorely needed, if only to promote fiscal prudence and promote public trust.

So here’s the million dollar question: Is the 89th Texas Legislature finally ready to make commonsense changes to this outrageous practice?