Maryland superintendent salaries: Another reason to embrace vouchers
Maryland’s students deserve a world-class public education at a reasonable cost to taxpayers.
Unfortunately, with the passage of the multibillion-dollar Kirwan Plan, Marylanders are experiencing sticker shock for education spending. But, long before the passage of the Kirwan Plan, education in Maryland has been denigrated by enriching superintendents at everyone else’s expense.
This sorry status quo played out in Annapolis last year, when Maryland State Schools Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury resigned after allegations of a “toxic” work environment and muddled/ delayed implementation of state education policy. Even after being forced out, Choudhury was able to hold onto his ludicrous $325,000 salary, becoming a “senior policy adviser” to the state Board of Education.
Such compensation and conduct are unfortunately par for the course in Maryland education.
A recent analysis of superintendent compensation by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) finds that the average Maryland superintendent makes $240,000 per year (not counting the often-outrageous benefits). Despite these lavish payouts there’s no real link between top-brass pay and student performance. Lawmakers and policymakers should crack the books and figure out a smarter, fairer compensation system.
According to TPA’s analysis of 2022-23 State Department of Education data, superintendents are having a field day with taxpayer dollars.
The average figure of $240,000 masks quite a bit of variation between individual counties. Sonja Santelises (Baltimore
City) and Millard House II (Prince George’s County), for example, earn about $340,000 and $360,000 per year, respectively.
This has not led to any demonstrable gains in
Even when the education system replaces subpar superintendents, bureaucrats tend to import mediocrity rather than meaning fully change course.
student achievement in these two troubled counties.
The high school dropout rate for Baltimore City and Prince George’s County hovers in the 15% to 20% range, or more than double the statewide average of 7.5%.
Even students who don’t drop out feel they are set up to fail and are often held back because they haven’t mastered the material. Nearly 30% of Baltimore City students can’t even graduate within five years of starting high school.
In 2022 a report by the Maryland Inspector
General for Education found that, from 2016-20, more than 12,500 grades were changed from failing to passing. Pressure to change these grades came directly from above. Teachers and administrators pointed the finger at “North Avenue,” the location of Baltimore City Public Schools headquarters.
Despite calls by lawmakers for Baltimore City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises to step down, she stubbornly clung onto her post and remains CEO.
Even when the education system replaces
subpar superintendents, bureaucrats tend to import mediocrity rather than meaningfully change course. Prince George’s House is less than a year into his post, having been kicked out of his superintendent role in Houston two years into his tenure amid a Texas Education Agency takeover of the district over longstanding concerns, some of which predated House.
His term was not without controversy, however: He was accused of being unwilling to accommodate disabled children and blatantly disregarding the vision of his district’s education board, leading to unnecessary turmoil with students caught in the middle.
Yet students and parents in Maryland are now supposed to believe House will turn around one of the
worst-performing districts here.
Some of this educational naivete could be forgiven if compensation was at least partially performance-based. The Houses and Santelises of the Maryland education system could earn their keep, but only if graduation rates and test scores meaningfully improve throughout their tenure.
Surely, the bar could at least be set at not inflating test scores and arbitrarily changing grades.
It’s also important for policymakers to understand the limits of the public school system. Without any outside competition and accountability, students are limited in how much they can excel.
Maryland would be wise to take a page from states such as Florida, Indiana and Ohio, and embrace school
choice. Under the systems created by these pioneering states, parents and students are free to apply their tax dollars to the school of their choosing rather than being shackled to the public school in their zip code.
These programs are largely means-tested, giving struggling households extra help in allowing their children a chance to succeed.
While no education system is perfect, giving tax credits and vouchers to students is a far better use of resources than heaping salary hikes on overpaid administrators.
Maryland’s education-funding follies need a timeout, and the first place to look is bloated superintendent salaries.