Study: Administrators outnumber teachers

Louisiana is one of 21 states where education administrators and others outnumber classroom teachers, according to a report issued Thursday by a group that favors school choice.

Between the 1950 financial year and 2009 the public school population rose by 96 percent nationally while school employees grew by 386 percent, a study by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice says.

“Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period,” according to the review.

“Of those personnel, teachers’ numbers increased 252 percent while administrators and other non-teaching staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students,” the group concluded.

The Friedman Foundation calls itself an advocate of school choice, which it terms a “common sense idea that gives all parents the power and freedom to choose their child’s education.”

Public school advocates contend that school choice is a bid to drain students and resources from traditional classrooms, in part to boost private providers financially.

According to the report, Louisiana’s student population dropped 13 percent between the 1992 and 2009 financial years while the ranks of administrators and others rose 13 percent.

The student population rose by 17 percent nationally while ranks of administrators went up 46 percent.

In addition, the state had 2,119 more administrators and other non-teaching personnel than teachers in the 2009 financial year, the study says.

Virginia led the 21-state list with nearly 61,000 more administrators than teachers,

Others on the list included Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.

The latest review said that an earlier study by the same group concluded that, despite the hike in public school employment, student achievement has been flat or declined.

The group said data for its review came from the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education.

Comments

1) Comment by seebee - 03/03/2013

I wonder if the Friedman Foundation who "favors school choice" has studied to link the administrative increases to increases in charter schools. Each charter that is self-sustaining must still have all the staff of a district office at each charter school site. It is only logical that with the exponential growth of charters would come the same growth in administrators and other non-teaching staff. Which brings us back to the idea that charters are not about reducing costs at all.

2) Comment by e.ducator22 - 03/03/2013

Noel (or anyone else might be able to shed some light) It seems to me that you are somewhat of an expert on doing research. I was wondering if the expense reports and education of one Bernard Taylor could be researched. After reading the article in the GR paper about his recently filed lawsuit in GR and the subsequent comments, it appears there might be a pattern. Patterns of policy, expenses, travel, questionable attendance at work, vacating postions, hiring friends and "aquaintances",........ seem apparent. I would hate to think that EBRPSS knew about this man's reputation, or more precisely, his character, and hired him anyway. BTW GR is laughing at us for hiring this guy. They are calling him a conman. Is it possible there is some credescence to these alligations? Hmmmmmm

3) Comment by Bouncer - 03/03/2013

I agree with everyone supporting Noel's observations. I might also add that his posts are always a pleasure to read: accurate, informative, and written in extremely graceful, reader-friendly prose. This is in stark contrast to the puffy, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual claptrap stinking up the board, which calls itself *****

4) Comment by 1ryben - 02/03/2013

Please read Mr. Hammat's comments below. It is not just administrators! It is also "other's" The headline is grossly misleading.

5) Comment by dualthreat - 02/03/2013

This is true for higher ed also, just look at southerns payroll for IT department, for example why do IT need a President who needs a VP who needs and assistant VP, to be over a director who needs an assistant director who over IT supervisors. While some instructors don't make 40 G a year, and college tuition just got a pay raise. Now to the Public school system, the reason for this increase in administrators is the heads or looking for better ways to teach by hiring phd's who don't have kids or never step in any classroom to teach anything, when all kids need to know is fundamentals first, do you how may kids are making it to college and have to look at a chart r a calculator to know what 8x9 is, or fractions, and calculus forget it. Here's my proof they enter college the first 2 years or spent on non college courses so they run out of money and patience and drop out. They or in 40 G worth of debt, and if they do get a degree they have to leave the state they love because there's no industry here, only oil and gas, Why we know one can retire anymore because between gas, insurance (life, health, home,flood,,autoetc..), food,and your mortgage we pay a lot. so new college grads are working at walmart and wendys.

6) Comment by Scrooge - 02/03/2013

jwarren, very good point. Taking "the meat axe to the Louisiana Dept. of Education bureaucracy" with qualifications and experience as a criteria for validation would clean out it out very efficiently, including the top cronies whose ineptitude is responsible for the increase in "administrative functions at district and school level that are directly related to state mandates"

7) Comment by jwarren - 02/03/2013

I repeat, if this is a problem, start at the top, in Baton Rouge. You would think Jindal and White would have already taken the meat axe to the Louisiana Dept. of Education bureaucracy. Let's eliminate the administrative functions at district and school level that are directly related to state mandates, too, by eliminating those mandates. Too bad someone can't quantify the work hours at school level just to meet all the state requirements enacted during the Jindal administration. The administrative demands at the school level have INCREASED greatly under Jindal. So let's start by getting rid of the Jindal mandates and the people required to administer them. Surely no conservative would disagree with that.

8) Comment by bourbon-soda - 02/03/2013

Some quantitation of how much uncompensated service goes to students outside the public schools and for which the schools are not compensated, would be interesting. The disproportionate expansion of administration was elucidated as an inexorable aspect of government by C. Northcote Parkinson in _Parkinson's Law_, about which it is easy to read on the net. Part of the history of this in Louisiana goes back to Huey Long supporting textbooks for private and parochial school students, and successfully arguing for constitutionality of same before the US Supreme Court. Busing of private school students seems to go back to 1969, when John McKeithen was governor. If it weren't for 2 Democrat governors, the public schools might not have to provide these services. Much of Huey's radical (at the time) programs are now boilerplate for the Democrat and moderate wing of the Republican party.

9) Comment by ultimateliberal - 02/03/2013

That, my friends is why education costs so much. What we need are more people in the classroom, fewer personnel who don't actually work in the front lines. Such waste! The ration should be 10-1, ten teachers per administrator; ten students per teacher (not counting administrators here) We've known this throughout our teaching careers, but the taxpayers have not fought for classroom equity. LOWER CLASS SIZES and we will get GOOD RESULTS. Send 60% of these administrators back to the classroom at teachers' salaries and we'll be able to educate the CHILDREN. That's what we exist for: the CHILDREN. How many administrators work with 30 children per hour for six hours straight each day? There are no failing teachers; there are failing kids who are stuffed into overcrowded classrooms where they get lost in the crowd. There are failing administrators who have no clue how to support their teachers and watch their backs. Been there, done that...........retired teacher and administrator.

10) Comment by Traveler - 02/03/2013

To Noel Hammatt: your first comment is absolutely correct!!! Add to that list of "other" personnel the following: the school speech pathologist, occupational therapist, art and music teachers and physical education instructors, and the resource teacher (who are listed as "ancillary personnel" because they do not have one specific classroom but are there to serve all the children in the school). Dare we claim to be providing a "free and appropriate education" to all our children without those educators?! The Friedman Foundation folks know that percentages are the easiest statistics that can be manipulated to confuse or deceive the public.

11) Comment by phil - 02/03/2013

If these numbers are true then perhaps the public school system needs to have some changes made within to fix the public school system. The solution to actually fix the public school system is not to form additional layers of the "public" school system by creating additional types of "public" schools in the form of private schools and possibly even charter schools. Creating additional tiers of public education does NOT appear to me to solve any real issues within the public school system. The added use of vouchers, which will possibly result in a long- term increase the number of private schools, just seems to create more costs for taxpayers, and also possibly makes some people who own existing and possibly FUTURE private schools more money. If the public school system is actually too top heavy with administrators, then that possibly needs to be looked into and fixed.

12) Comment by spqr - 02/03/2013

Story's byline written by "Capitol News Bureau" because no one at this newspaper rag wants to place their name atop such a propaganda piece. Do we have too many administrators and so-called "experts" in public schools? Yes, but Piyush Jindal's reform has dictated that fact. But going back to 1950 to make the point is laughable.

13) Comment by SuzanneMS - 02/03/2013

So, you're telling us that the headline is deliberately misleading? And that the Friedman Foundation is telling lies with numbers? What a shock. I found the report online, and nowhere do they provide any information by position. It's all "administrators and other non-teaching staff." And they had to go all the way back to 1950 to make their case -- back to before special needs students were admitted to public schools, before electronic information technology which requires technical support, before standardized testing. Noel Hammatt, I suggest you find the actual numbers by position and write a letter in rebuttal. You might also point out how many new positions are only necessary because of the "reforms" that require someone to micromanage the teachers. Although I would not be surprised to find that Louisiana does have too many actual "administrators" at the state level.

14) Comment by agagent - 02/03/2013

It looks like a bloated bureaucracy. The public school systems probably need more business and financial management expertise and fewer educators in administration. We need more educators in the classroom.

15) Comment by zealer99 - 02/03/2013

“Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period,” This is significant no matter how it is spun or what reasoning is applied.

16) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 01/03/2013

I wish The Advocate would do more than parrot the press releases. These reports come out all the time, and are designed with one goal in mind. To convince the public that schools are incredibly inefficient. Let's look just a bit deeper at the numbers. First, there is an indication that several of the commenters already read this as meaning we have too many administrators. Yet there is nothing in the article or the report itself that says this. Key phrase is "administrators and other personnel. So, let's just imagine the employees we might find at an elementary school. Our schools in Louisiana are smaller than national averages for elementary schools which actually increases the size of our staffs other than teachers. Why? Let's take a quick look. Imagine a small elementary where you have 2 classes at each grade level from pre-k to 5. 14 classes. 14 teachers. The school has a principal, a secretary, a librarian, and a counselor. There's four "other" so far. Usually you have two custodians, and four or five cooks and a dietician in the kitchen. Add in a couple of grounds keepers and maintenance people and you now have more "other" than teachers. And there are even more. In Louisiana, we have one of the largest percentages of students in private and parochial schools, or in home schools. Districts have people on staff who evaluate students for special programs, even those in private and parochial schools. ALL OF THESE WOULD NATURALLY MEAN WE HAVE MORE STAFF. IN LOUISIANA WE ALE AN UNUSUAL STATE IN THAT WE PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO STUDENTS IN PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. THOSE TEACHERS DON'[T COUNT, BUYT THE BUS DRIVERS DO! PICK A STATE, ANY STATE AND SEE HOW WE COMPARE. THIS IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.G

17) Comment by jwarren - 01/03/2013

Okay, let's get rid of a lot of them, starting at the top in Baton Rouge. I'm sure Jindal and White would endorse that.

18) Comment by ScotB - 01/03/2013

Well, it looks like we need to trim a bunch of administrators. Does this come as a surprise to any teacher?

19) Comment by teacherguy - 01/03/2013

I have an educational administration degree...however, haven't been able to break the ranks of people with the right last name in my top 10 school district. Just saying....