Departing School Superintendents

From Massachusetts to California, an increasing number of principals who are in disagreement with the school boards are enjoying smoother landings thanks to the generous farewell rates stuck in their contracts.

The parachute of $ 905,000 in gold with the announced departure last week the school superintendent Arlene C. Philadelphia Ackerman is for all accounts bonanza largest acquisition so far, at least in Pennsylvania.

But while the output of Ackerman was making headlines, it was announced that the Allentown school superintendent, was former Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak, was awarded a deal that let him stay in a "strategist" with no specific obligations in $ 195,000 salary - plus a $ 50,000 payment.

In February, the Gettysburg Area School District - a fraction the size of Philadelphia or Allentown - Superintendent William Hall was a two-year salary, $ 270,000. The district also purchased the mortgage - in a house built by the volume tech students in high school. Package total: $ 542,000.

Across the country, school principals are negotiating acquisitions financed by the taxpayer, including not only hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, but the health care benefits, performance cars, and other benefits extend far beyond their conditions of employment.

An official with the state wants to stop these offers expensive outlet.

"There is a proliferation of these offers, and raised concerns with us, especially with the rising cost of education," said state auditor general Jack Wagner, who announced last week that he had to begin audits of all purchases superintendent.