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Higher administrative pay linked to lower student test scores

Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:11 am
Posted by Cell of Awareness
Member since Jan 2024
1083 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:11 am
Watchdog report

quote:

A recent analysis by Open the Books has revealed a concerning trend in public schools across the United States. As salaries for administrators rise, student performance on standardized tests appears to decline. The study, which examined payroll data from 12,500 school districts between 2019 and 2023, found that increased spending on administrative salaries often correlates with lower scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a test that measures reading and math skills for fourth- and eighth-grade students.



Posted by TheosDeddy
Member since May 2024
1074 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:13 am to
Exactly, bc less money for the classroom or better teachers

Typical corruption
Posted by Longhorn Actual
Member since Dec 2023
2858 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:18 am to
EdDs are expensive
Posted by Tangineck
Mandeville
Member since Nov 2017
2715 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:18 am to
Bloated administrative do nothing jobs that drive up budgets and interfere with actual teaching with social justice causes.
Posted by Shexter
Prairieville
Member since Feb 2014
19037 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:20 am to
quote:

salaries for administrators


Edit: This is NOT teacher pay, but front office administrator pay.

quote:

O'Brien emphasized that the issue is not with teacher salaries, which are often considered underpaid, but rather with administrative pay. "What we are seeing is the administrator pay is most likely to blame for this negative correlation with student achievement," she said. The report noted a significant increase in non-teaching staff, with administrative roles growing by 41% between 2010 and 2022, compared to a 10% increase in regular school employment.


quote:

Baltimore was cited as an example of administrative bloat, where less than half of the 13,000 employees are teachers or principals. The city has roles such as a senior executive director of equity earning over $200,000, along with ten other similar positions, which did not exist in the past.


quote:

The study also pointed out that benefits packages, which are not included in payroll calculations, further divert resources away from students. According to a report from the Reason Foundation, per-pupil spending in the U.S. increased by 21% from 2022 to 2019, with 64% of that spending going towards benefits.
This post was edited on 10/2/25 at 9:25 am
Posted by CatfishJohn
Member since Jun 2020
18644 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:21 am to
I'm all about cutting fat and creating efficiency in education system but there is correlation v. causation issue here.

They often pay administrators more to take worse jobs (i.e. bad schools in bad neighborhoods with bad parents) and those schools have worse test scores.
Posted by Turnblad85
Member since Sep 2022
4281 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:21 am to
I swear, in my poor southern county, the public school system has become backdoor reparations and its not even a secret.
Posted by Huey Lewis
BR
Member since Oct 2013
5050 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:23 am to
It could also be that nobody wants to be principal at a failing school full of terrible kids so you have to offer more pay to get anyone to put up with that crap
Posted by bad93ex
Walnut Cove
Member since Sep 2018
33742 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:24 am to
quote:

Bloated administrative do nothing jobs that drive up budgets and interfere with actual teaching with social justice causes.



"iTs fOr tHe cHiLdReN!!!!!1!!"
Posted by Mingo Was His NameO
Brooklyn
Member since Mar 2016
36125 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:27 am to
quote:

It could also be that nobody wants to be principal at a failing school full of terrible kids so you have to offer more pay to get anyone to put up with that crap


The elementary school I went to had a principal and vice principal when I was growing up. Now there’s 2 principals and 2 or 3 vice principals. It’s k-5 and about 40 kids in each grade. There’s 5 administrators for like 240 kids. That’s insane and totally unnecessary
Posted by Shexter
Prairieville
Member since Feb 2014
19037 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:27 am to
quote:


I swear, in my poor southern county, the public school system has become backdoor reparations and its not even a secret.


Seeing the same in Louisiana. School administration from primary through high school has become significantly blacker, more democratic, and more LBGT.
Posted by Cell of Awareness
Member since Jan 2024
1083 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:28 am to
quote:

It could also be that nobody wants to be principal at a failing school full of terrible kids so you have to offer more pay to get anyone to put up with that crap


Scores went down AFTER administrative salaries went up.
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
135254 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:35 am to
The education of this country need 100% overhaul. There are way too many administrative positions and not enough help in classrooms. 75% of all admin positions need to go away and schools need to do better with the money they have and stop raising taxes for no benefit.
Posted by whoa
New Orleans
Member since Sep 2017
5782 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:45 am to
quote:

The elementary school I went to had a principal and vice principal when I was growing up. Now there’s 2 principals and 2 or 3 vice principals. It’s k-5 and about 40 kids in each grade. There’s 5 administrators for like 240 kids. That’s insane and totally unnecessary

I was coming to say my high school went from one principal to 4 while I was there.
Posted by MRTigerFan
Baton Rouge
Member since Sep 2008
6278 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:57 am to
quote:

senior executive director of equity earning over $200,000


Posted by tiggerthetooth
Big Momma's House
Member since Oct 2010
63904 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 9:59 am to
Administrators work for administrators, not the students.


The government administrators work for other administrators not for the people.


Teachers unions work for the teachers at the expense of the students.
Posted by Jimbeaux
Member since Sep 2003
21312 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 10:00 am to
Wokism is action. (They call it praxis)

The know-nothing radicals think they are enlightened with special social justice language and ideas. They are typically quite narcissistic or even anti-social.

Their virtue signaling words have put them into power, but they aren’t motivated by anything but power.

They see no contradiction in this data. They would likely say that the testing system is racist.
This post was edited on 10/2/25 at 10:02 am
Posted by BluegrassBelle
RIP Hefty Lefty - 1981-2019
Member since Nov 2010
105930 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 10:01 am to
You mean putting money into admin pockets instead of paying teachers more and putting that money in the physical classroom doesn't help raise test scores?

Well, shocker.
Posted by ActusHumanus
St. George, Louisiana
Member since Sep 2025
559 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 10:02 am to
quote:

The elementary school I went to had a principal and vice principal when I was growing up. Now there’s 2 principals and 2 or 3 vice principals. It’s k-5 and about 40 kids in each grade. There’s 5 administrators for like 240 kids. That’s insane and totally unnecessary


You see this in EBR because every damn school has a magnet program and possibly others. Each program requires an admin.
Posted by MoarKilometers
Member since Apr 2015
20387 posts
Posted on 10/2/25 at 10:09 am to
LINK to the story released by the authors of the report.
Better info there. This chart was interesting. Good money in being a charter school superintendent in Texas. Also, 556k for elementary homeroom teacher

This post was edited on 10/2/25 at 10:11 am
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