3 ms·

> they certainly find such salaries for administration This is one of those claims that in a way has become 'common wisdom', but that I've seen no actual evide

> they certainly find such salaries for administration This is one of those claims that in a way has become 'common wisdom', but that I've seen no actual evidence of. I wonder if it's just one of those talking points of people who want to cut taxes that has never been challenged or at least defined, like "government waste". It's like an end-user saying 'my computer's software is buggy' - that doesn't tell me anything, and for all I know it's your power supply, monitor, or a million other possibilities, or even a matter of perception by a user in a bad mood or with a bias. Especially we don't know the problem definition: Which administrators are overpaid? How frequently? Is it certain administrative jobs? In certain size districts? Is it due to some other problem? And which administrators are underpaid? Finally, while we should pay attention to these issues, let's not catastrophize every problem into a organizational disaster. I know plenty of administrators in business who are overpaid; the perfect human institution doesn't exist.

germinalphrase 9y ago
I think it's a meme that has carried over to k12 from stories about massive administration growth in higher ed relative to teaching staff. It also is challenging to make apples:apples comparison between teacher and administrator salaries as the contracts are structured very diferently. That said - anecdotally, admin salaries are commonly 2x+ average teacher salaries in districts that I have had experience teaching within.
- secabeen 9y ago
  And even in higher-ed, it's largely a false narrative as well. Overall spending per student at state schools is down. Here are the numbers for UC: http://dailybruin.com/2014/11/18/tuition-rises-despite-declining-uc-spending-per-student/ http://dailybruin.com/2014/11/18/tuition-rises-despite-decli... Administrative salaries are up, but generally in line with increases in research funding (research funding has a lot of administrative overhead. Read OMB Circular A-21 if you want to see some example details.) Yes, there are reports of some over-payments at the top executive levels, but just like in a corporation, overpaying the C-Level executives by $10/mil a year just doesn't move the needle for companies with 10's of billions of dollars a year in revenue.
sjg007 9y ago
A lot of CEOs are overpaid.
Spooky23 9y ago
My personal pet peeve here is that school superintendents get to negotiate with the board and get all sorts of premium benefits (ie free healthcare for life, second pensions, etc) with minimal transparency. Other similar jobs, like police chiefs, are civil service positions with standardized deals. Administration is growing because compliance requirements are growing.

germinalphrase 9y ago

I think it's a meme that has carried over to k12 from stories about massive administration growth in higher ed relative to teaching staff. It also is challenging to make apples:apples comparison between teacher and administrator salaries as the contracts are structured very diferently. That said - anecdotally, admin salaries are commonly 2x+ average teacher salaries in districts that I have had experience teaching within.

secabeen 9y ago
And even in higher-ed, it's largely a false narrative as well. Overall spending per student at state schools is down. Here are the numbers for UC: http://dailybruin.com/2014/11/18/tuition-rises-despite-declining-uc-spending-per-student/ http://dailybruin.com/2014/11/18/tuition-rises-despite-decli... Administrative salaries are up, but generally in line with increases in research funding (research funding has a lot of administrative overhead. Read OMB Circular A-21 if you want to see some example details.) Yes, there are reports of some over-payments at the top executive levels, but just like in a corporation, overpaying the C-Level executives by $10/mil a year just doesn't move the needle for companies with 10's of billions of dollars a year in revenue.

sjg007 9y ago

A lot of CEOs are overpaid.

Spooky23 9y ago

My personal pet peeve here is that school superintendents get to negotiate with the board and get all sorts of premium benefits (ie free healthcare for life, second pensions, etc) with minimal transparency. Other similar jobs, like police chiefs, are civil service positions with standardized deals. Administration is growing because compliance requirements are growing.