On Sept. 17, 20 weeks after his announced resignation, Maryland’s highest paid public-school employee will end his tenure as CEO of the Prince George’s County Public Schools. On July 12, PGCPS announced Kevin Maxwell’s severance package as $790,000, a sum that many considered excessive. The teachers’ union president attacked it as “appalling.”

But this sum grossly understates the actual cost of Maxwell’s post-employment compensation. Most notably, it fails to include the increased value of his Maryland state pension. When that compensation is factored in, the cost of his severance package doubles to approximately $1.6 million, with most of the unreported amount being paid by Maryland rather than the county school system. The total value of Maxwell’s pension package is about $4.8 million.

From one perspective, $1.6 million is a steal for taxpayers, because PGCPS had a four-year contract with Maxwell beginning last year. The cost of the remaining three years would have been more than $1 million in cash compensation plus additional pension benefits.

On Sept. 17, 20 weeks after his announced resignation, Maryland’s highest paid public-school employee will end his tenure as CEO of the Prince George’s County Public Schools. On July 12, PGCPS announced Kevin Maxwell’s severance package as $790,000, a sum that many considered excessive. The teachers’ union president attacked it as “appalling.”

But this sum grossly understates the actual cost of Maxwell’s post-employment compensation. Most notably, it fails to include the increased value of his Maryland state pension. When that compensation is factored in, the cost of his severance package doubles to approximately $1.6 million, with most of the unreported amount being paid by Maryland rather than the county school system. The total value of Maxwell’s pension package is about $4.8 million.

From one perspective, $1.6 million is a steal for taxpayers, because PGCPS had a four-year contract with Maxwell beginning last year. The cost of the remaining three years would have been more than $1 million in cash compensation plus additional pension benefits.


Source: Snider, J.H., Prince George’s County pension-spiking is ripping off Maryland taxpayers, Washington Examiner, September 17, 2018.