This charter school superintendent makes $870,000. He leads a district with 1,000 students. [View all]
BY ELLIS SIMANI, PROPUBLICA, AND LEXI CHURCHILL, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA
MARCH 6, 2025
Over the last three years, the head of a small charter school network that serves fewer than 1,000 students has taken home up to $870,000 annually, a startling amount that appears to be the highest for any public school superintendent in the state and among the top in the nation.
Valere Public Schools Superintendent Salvador Cavazos compensation to run three campuses in Austin, Corpus Christi and Brownsville exceeds the less than $450,000 that New York Citys chancellor makes to run the largest school system in the country.
But Cavazos salary looks far more modest in publicly posted records that are supposed to provide transparency to taxpayers. Thats because Valere excludes most of his bonuses from its reports to the state and on its own website, instead only sharing his base pay of about $300,000.
The fact that the superintendent of a small district could pull in a big-time salary shocked experts and previewed larger transparency and accountability challenges that could follow as Texas moves to approve a voucher-like program that would allow the use of public funds for private schools.
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Well looky here! What could possibly go wrong with charter schools, Greg?