A new Texas Public Policy Foundation report estimates four Houston-area school superintendents are receiving more total compensation than their districts are disclosing to the state.
Some of Texas’ highest-paid superintendents receive salaries larger than those of the president of the United States and the governor of Texas. But according to TPPF, many are being paid more than what is being reported to the Texas Education Agency.
For public transparency purposes, the TEA requires school districts “to report superintendent compensation annually and to publicly post the superintendent’s employment contract.”
TPPF noted that not all compensation given to superintendents is being reported.
“For some of the highest-paid superintendents, the pay reported to TEA significantly understates their total compensation,” the report reads. “Their employment contracts provide for additional cash payments and retirement contributions that are not available to teachers or other employees in their districts.”
Report authors James Quintero, the policy director for TPPF’s Taxpayer Protection Project, and Jennifer Windh, author of The Tomball ISD Reporter on Substack, reviewed the contracts of four of the highest-paid superintendents in Texas.
The contracts for Klein ISD, Houston ISD, Lamar CISD, and Tomball ISD’s superintendents showed the four top administrators’ total pay reported to TEA for 2025–26 ranged from $431,554 to $508,554. The authors estimated their total compensation, including additional benefits, at between $499,866 and $768,849.
Quintero and Windh report that some of the non-salary compensation in the four contracts includes supplemental payments to cover required Teacher Retirement System contributions, contributions to tax-deferred retirement accounts, extra vacation time that can be converted to cash, performance incentive payments, and life insurance reimbursement.
“All of these unusual forms of additional compensation are concerning because they make it difficult for taxpayers to understand what they are actually paying their superintendent,” reads the report. “When significant portions of compensation are excluded from the salary figure reported to TEA, it also raises serious questions about transparency and whether taxpayers are being given a complete picture of the cost of their district’s highest-paid employee.”
The authors urged lawmakers to pass policies that create transparency and set a cap on superintendents’ compensation through a three-part approach.
First, a “total compensation cap” that would limit superintendents’ annual compensation to $250,000. This includes both salary and any other financial benefits.
Second, an increase in public transparency by requiring school districts to post at least 30 days before a board vote any “proposed contracts, amendments, and exemption requests with supporting documentation” and “a standardized summary of total annual compensation, all compensation components, and comparison with average teacher pay.”
Third, any district that seeks to exceed the proposed cap would undergo a rigorous and transparent process to obtain a one-year exemption from the Texas Commissioner of Education.
The report noted that districts would need to demonstrate that higher pay is necessary to recruit or retain a qualified superintendent, that teacher compensation is competitive and prioritized, and that the proposed compensation is reasonable relative to district finances and resources. It also calls for a separate board vote on the exemption application and public disclosure of the application, evidence, and commissioner’s decision.
This exemption would expire after one year and would require “independent justification” for renewal.
TPPF’s full report can be found here.
