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Straight Talk about School Administrators: A Special Report by
the Association of California School Administrators
The myth of "bureaucratic bloat" in American public
schools is not substantiated by the facts. Yet increasingly, critics
argue that administrative costs divert scarce resources away from
classroom instruction. The opposite is true. School districts operate
with very lean management structures in which only a small percentage
of the school budget is directed to overhead and administration.
Ongoing research by the Association of California School Administrators
examines the common myths associated with school administration
and reaches the following conclusions and findings:
- California school districts spend only about 13 percent of their
funds on administration at district and site levels combined.
- Less than 6 percent of California school district budgets are
spent on central and county office administration. Most school
administrators are principals and vice principals at neighborhood
schools.
- Ninety-four cents out of every educational dollar is directed
at school sites, of which 65 cents goes to direct classroom support
costs such as teacher salaries and benefits, textbooks, supplies
and equipment, and support personnel like aides, counselors, psychologists
and nurses. Another 29 cents goes to other site costs, including
building maintenance, custodians, food service, bus transportation
and the salaries of instructional personnel such as principals,
vice principals, librarians, curriculum and media specialists
and the school secretary.
- Less than 4.5 percent of the total state and national school
work force is administrative, and, as a percent of public school
employees, California employs fewer administrators than the national
average.
- California is the only state in the nation to mandate by law
the number of administrators school districts can employ. Schools
have operated within those strict administrator-teacher ratios
for 20 years. During the last seven years, the number of administrators
to teachers decreased steadily. In 1994, California schools employed
4,338 fewer administrators than allowed under state law.
- On average, California school districts employ only one administrator
for every 16 teachers. When other school personnel are included,
the average district has one administrator supervising the work
of 27 school employees. Few private sector businesses operate
within such a lean management structure.
- In 1985, on average, there were 255 students in California for
every one school administrator. By 1994, that ratio grew to 371
students to each school administrator.
- The average school district in California has a $28 million
budget, yet the average superintendent salary is only $82,334.
Comparable businesses of this size compensate their chief executive
officers at much higher levels. The average school in California
is a $3.3 million enterprise. The average elementary principal
earns just over $60,500 per year to manage all aspects of that
enterprise.
The fact is, if every school administrator in California were fired,
it would only generate enough money for a one-time 5 percent salary
hike for teachers, or for reducing class size by only one pupil.
Source: ERS
In today's political climate, public education faces increasing
demands for public accountability, improved performance, cost containment,
restructuring and reform. There is general agreement that schools
must make major strides to improve student performance during this
decade if California is to maintain its competitive edge and enhance
its quality of life. Reform efforts are under way in almost every
school district in California, and students are reaping the benefits.
But even as they work to restructure educational delivery systems,
reform curriculum and maximize very limited educational resources,
school administrators are often stereotyped as unnecessary, ineffective
bureaucrats who strip resources from the classroom. Much of this
criticism results from misrepresenting data or misunderstanding
administrators' roles in and contributions to the educational process.
In this report, the Association of California School Administrators
examines some of the myths and misrepresentations about administration
in California's public schools.
While school administration could be streamlined and improved in
some school districts, a careful review of the facts clearly indicates
California's K-12 educational system is not top-heavy.
This report examines five assertions about school administrators
that often appear in the news media and have taken on the status
of "conventional wisdom" about education's shortcomings.
Assertion OneA lot of money that could be better spent in the classroom
is wasted on school administration.
Fact
California school districts devote only a small portion of their
budgets to school administration.
Much of the confusion about school spending comes from misunderstanding
the essential relationship between teachers in a classroom and the
educational support system that serves them. Education is a complex,
diverse enterprise requiring leadership, innovation and collaboration
to achieve its goals for today's students. The "little red
schoolhouse" simply doesn't exist any more in California. The
student population is more diverse, faces far more social and physical
obstacles to learning, and receives fewer financial resources than
students of even a decade ago.
A recent public opinion survey conducted for ACSA by the Field
Institute dramatically revealed the huge gap between public perception
and reality when it comes to school administrative costs.
Nearly half of the public feels California spends too much on school
administration. About one-fourth of those surveyed think administrative
spending is about right, while one-eighth of Californians feel we
spend too little to administer public schools.
Why do people make these assumptions? Perhaps because most Californians
either grossly overestimate or simply don't know how much money
schools devote to administration.
The field poll found most Californians (39 percent) did not know
what percent of school budgets were spent on administration. Forty-one
percent said they thought schools devoted anywhere from 30 to 80
percent of their funds to administration. The average Californian
believes schools spend 38 percent of their budget on administration.
In reality, California public schools spend only 13 percent of
their budgets on administration and overhead, a statistic only 5
percent of those surveyed knew. The fact that the average Californian
thinks schools spend nearly three times what they actually do on
management reveals a critical public misperception about education.
It also reinforces the view schools should be able to simply reallocate
existing resources to improve educational performance. The facts
say otherwise.
In 1993-4, according to financial reports filed with the state
by California school districts (Form J-380), 5 percent of school
budgets were spent for central office administration. Approximately
95 cents of every educational dollar was directed to the school
site. School budgets, according to the state's J-380 form, spend
13.68 percent on administration, but of that, 7 percent is directed
at the school site for services such as principals. In most private
businesses this would be considered a lean management operation.
In the California Department of Education's most recent annual
analysis of the average cost of a school in California (1993-94),
65 percent of education funding went into direct classroom costs
such as textbooks, supplies, equipment, instructional aides, counselors,
psychologists, nurses and teacher salaries and benefits. Another
28.7 percent was devoted to other school site costs such as building
maintenance, food service, transportation, instructional support
personnel (curriculum specialists, librarians, media specialists),
and the salaries and benefits of the school secretary and other
employees.
Clearly, cuts in school administration cannot produce enough resources
to finance the significant educational improvements most Californians
desire.
Assertion Two
There are too many school administrators.
Fact
Less than 5 percent of the school work force -- nationwide and
in California -- is administrative.
An analysis by the U.S. Department of Education revealed that in
1993-94, administrators made up only 4.2 percent of the nation's
school work force. In California that same year, administrators
made up only 3.8 percent of the public school work force.Last year,
that research was validated by an independent analysis by the Rand
Corporation which confirmed that only 4. 49% of the education dollar
was spent on administrators. In fact, over the last decade, the
percentage of school funding devoted to administrative personnel
has remained constant or decreased.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that across the nation,
public schools employ fewer managers and supervisors than most public
and private sector industries.
State law for nearly 20 years has prohibited California from having
too many administrators in the public schools. California is the
only state in the nation with a mandated maximum administrator-teacher
ratio. Education is the only division of state government with a
statutory limit on the size of its management corps. School districts
are financially penalized if they exceed that ratio unless they
receive a waiver from the state. Only a few school districts have
ever exceeded the ratios, and most received waivers because of their
small enrollments.
The state mandated ratio of administrators to teachers is 9-to-100
in elementary
districts, 7-to-100 in high school districts and 8-to-100
in unified school districts.
In 1994-95, according to reports submitted by districts to the
state Department of Education, the administrator-teacher ratio is
6.63 to 100 in elementary districts, 5.36 to 100 for high schools
and 6.19 administrators for every 100 teachers in unified districts.
Those numbers also tell us that rather than a swelling bureaucracy,
California schools are operating with 4,338 fewer administrators
than allowed.
Overall, the numbers equates to one administrator for every 16.7
teachers. When other employees are factored in, schools have a manager-to-employee
ratio of 1-to-27. The facts show that school districts have complied
with the intent of state law and kept their administrative operations
very lean.
Even business has recognized the value of lean management. A recent
survey of business executives and consultants found that lean companies
were characterized by a management-to-staff ratio of 1-to-30.
Assertion Three
The number of school administrators has grown rapidlyFactDespite
skyrocketing enrollment, the number of school administrators has
decreased during the last decade.
Three key measures demonstrate that this has been the case. First,
according to the 1994-95 mandated administrator-teacher ratios,
California schools were "entitled" to employ 18,461 administrators.
In fact, districts only employed 14,123 administrators -- 4,338
fewer than the mandated ceiling.
Second, the administrator-to-pupil ratio has also grown in California
in recent years. In 1985, there was one administrator for every
255 students. In 1994, that ratio was one administrator for every
371 students, and that includes anyone with a partial administrative
assignment.
Third, the number of full-time administrators in California has
decreased more than 11 percent since 1982 -- despite growth in enrollment
of 1.25 million students.
Fourth, funding cuts and school safety topped the list of problems
most people see facing education. Californians are clearly concerned,
but community crime and violence, and steady erosion of money for
schools are the focus of that concern, not the quality of education.
Inefficient school administration was not listed as a major problem
by most Californians. The myth of the bureaucratic bloat in schools
appears to be a special interest concern, not a public interest
concern.
Assertion Four
School administrators are paid too much.
Fact
Public school administrators earn substantially less than their
counterparts in private industry.
Recent increases for school employees nationwide have been the
lowest in 20 years. At times during that period, the average wage
hike failed to keep pace with the Consumer Price Index, falling
1.3 percent behind.
According to Educational Research Service from 1990 to 1994, teachers
pay rose 8 percent, but high school principals' salaries saw only
a 6.5 percent hike.
Are administrators paid too much to begin with? Definitely not.
Schools are often told to operate more like businesses. Let's then
compare salaries with the private sector, in terms of comparable
levels of responsibility. The average school in California is a
$3.3 million enterprise. The average elementary principal earns
just over $60,500 per year to manage all aspects of that enterprise.
According to the 1994 Officer Compensation Report, in companies
with annual sales between $2 million and $60 million, the CEOs'
base salaries were $120,000 and grew by an average of 5.5 percent.
The average school district in California has a $25 million budget,
yet the average superintendent salary is less than $85,000. Comparable
businesses of this size compensate their chief executive officers
at much higher levels.
Assertion Five
Administration is an unnecessary burden on the educational system.
Fact
School administrators provide essential support services and programs
for students and classroom instruction.
Who are California's school administrators?
Administrators are not faceless paper-pushing bureaucrats removed
from the daily learning environment. Nearly 60 percent are the principals
and vice principals at local neighborhood schools. They are the
educational leaders we see each day working directly with teachers,
students, parents, school staff and the community to make education
work in California.
Another 36 percent of California's administrators manage the essential
programs and services that support students and classroom teaching.
These administrators perform important tasks such as:
- Developing and implementing the curriculum.
- Selecting textbooks and instructional materials.
- Recruiting, training and evaluating classified and certificated
staff members.
- Implementing strategic planning and evaluation.
- Managing the budget and monitoring cost controls.
- Maintaining community relations, including parent and business
relations.
- Implementing school board policies and complying with federal,
state and local regulations and laws.
- Planning facilities and supervising maintenance.
- Governmental relations with federal, state and local agencies
and the California Legislature.
- Providing social service programs to students and their families
to address problems and issues that can affect the quality of
education for millions of students (i.e., gang violence, drug
prevention, child nutrition, child abuse, dropout prevention,
AIDS education, health education, desegregation, migrant education,
busing, immigration, homelessness, etc.)
Most administrators work at neighborhood schools. Without administrators
to perform vital support services, the educational system could
not function effectively. Bills couldn't be paid, plans couldn't
be implemented, students couldn't be served and improvements couldn't
be achieved.
The fact is, as school districts have fought to keep budget cuts
away from the classroom, essential administrative services have
been reduced or eliminated.
For the last decade, misinformation has grown into the myth that
public schools are wasting valuable funds on unnecessary levels
of educational bureaucracy. These myths are based on misperceptions
about the role of school administration in today's schools and outright
misrepresentation of facts. They have taken on the form of conventional
wisdom and are used continually to criticize the public schools.
To achieve educational improvements being set as national, state
and local priorities, educational leadership must be supported and
enhanced. Public awareness about the essential role school administrators
play in leading our schools is an important first step. Arguments
over the myth of administrative waste divert California's attention
away from the real issue confronting education: How can we create
the world-class educational system our students deserve given the
incredible societal and financial demands being placed on our schools?
It's time to stop searching for scapegoats and start listening
to a little straight talk about school administrators.
Association of California School Administrators
ACSA is the 14,000-member professional organization representing
the superintendents, principals, administrators and classified educational
leaders in California's public schools. For further information
regarding the association or to obtain original copies of this publication
complete with charts, contact:
Media Relations Department
1517 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Tel (916) 444-3216
Fax (916) 444-1085
© Copyright 1996
Association of California School Administrators
ISBN 0-943397-18-9
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