Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Growth of Students versus Administrative Staffing in Public Schools 1950-2009

Prof Mark A Perry (2013, January 21) makes a good point about the "bloat" of administrative staffing in America's public schools. The chart below shows that administrative staffing has outpaced student growth by a ratio of 7:1.


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At best, one is left pondering the extent to which government regulations have contributed to this imbalance. At worst, one has to ask just what the driving focus and priority is at public schools: education or administration.

Source: Perry, M J (2013, January 21), Chart of the Day: Administrative Bloat in US Public Schools, AEIdeas.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As statistics go, this is fairly self- serving. If I start at a base of 1,000 students and 5 adminstrators, doubling the students adds 2,000 students; going from 5 to 35 administrators achieves 700%. Not sure the statistics prove a point.

At our school district, we now have three financial administrators - since financial reporting (mostly from a Republican legislator) to "avoid bloat" is required. Add three special education staff, a four person "staff" to manage a system wide computer system and you have added 10 individuals - or 200% right there.

McKibbinUSA said...

Hi Anonymous, higher productivity in the US private sector workforce has resulted in a declining percentage of administrative jobs over the years, not an increasing percentage -- something is amiss in the public sector, especially in education...

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