Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Millage Failure=Bloated School Administration? A Look at the Past

With the failure of the WISD millage last night, criticism in part has focused, in comments on AnnArbor.com, on the number of school administrators and support staff. Many opined that there are far too many administrative and non-classroom positions (e.g., counselors) in local schools. Ann Arbor's Pioneer and Huron high schools each have one principal and four assistant principals. Ypsilanti Public Schools has two persons in charge of...lunch--which is contracted out, complete with menus. Dusty D became curious to see what YHS school administration was like in the past, by way of comparison.

In the 1905 "Ypsi-Dixit" high school yearbook, the administration consists of:
William B. Arbaugh, superintendent
Charles S. Jacobs, principal (and instructor in Greek, Latin, and History)
That's it.
The YHS also had classes today considered "extra," such as music, geology, and art.

In the 1917 "Ypsi-Dixit" high school yearbook, the administration consists of:
William B. Arbaugh, superintendent
Stanley Morris, principal
Again, that is the extent of school administration as listed in the yearbook.
Aside from the basics, YHS also offered instruction in Algebra, Physics, Chemistry, public speaking, manual training, domestic science, German, French, and Latin.

In the 1927 "Ypsi-Dixit" high school yearbook, the administration consists of:
Arthur G. Erickson, superintendent
W. M. Land, principal
John O. Grimes, former principal (assuming he left sometimes in school year?)
Aside from the basics this year, YHS also offered instruction in Latin, Chemistry, Physics, shorthand, typewriting, music, sewing, Algebra, Geometry, cooking, and French.

It is interesting to see that for decades a school that graduated students educated in Greek, Latin, and Art did so with an apparent administrative staff of 2.
Posted by Dusty D at 11/04/2009 11:51:00 AM
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12 comments :

Designated Conservative said...

Great post, and very important points to consider. I've linked this from my site at http://dcon2012.wordpress.com. Thanks!

November 4, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Dusty D said...

Designative Conservative, thank you for your link and for visiting!

One high school principal versus five still kind of floors me. Each of those principals earns over $120,000 as well, according to comments on AnnArbor.com.

November 4, 2009 at 1:35 PM
BF said...

However...

There were far fewer students.

There were also far fewer local, state, and national, standards to be met.

There are also a lot of other differences that would explain the differing sizes of school administrations.

For example, many of the positions now, didn't exist in days of yore, but are now required either for state/national reasons, or for purely practical reasons: technology directors, assistant superintendents, curriculum directors, finance directors, assistant principals, security officers, public information directors, transportation supervisors, maintenance supervisors, food service supervisors, and school boards, to name a few.

It's true that not all these positions are needed in all districts, but in urban and suburban districts, the real need is there. By way of example: Caseville schools, in the Thumb, has a superintendent and a single principal (for their two schools),with a student population of 288 students, for a ratio of 144 students to each administrator. By comparison, Ann Arbor has 15 administrators and 32 building principals, with a student population of 16,690, or a ratio of 355 students to each administrator.

There's likely some leeway in those numbers, but I used what's at hand, from the Michigan Education Directory, 2008 edition.

I could go on - comparing available resources, geographic size, variety of courses, accommodation of those with special needs, and the diversity of both students and faculty - between the past and the present, but suffice it to say it's impossible for a large public school district to turn back the clock nearly 100 years and scale down to just the offerings and programs that were available then. (No, I don't think that's what you were suggesting, you were just pointing out some interesting tidbits.)

Ok, I'll step away from the keyboard now...

November 4, 2009 at 1:49 PM
BF said...

... Stepping back to the keyboard.

Two prime examples of state/national standards that must be met:

The MEAP.

NCLB.

November 4, 2009 at 2:05 PM
Unknown said...

Also, from the way I read it in Allie's diary, at least, school seems almost an afterthought in her life. I know no one would note a daily occurrence, but it seems to me like school was not daily for her. Just making up numbers here but, if you knew you could plan on only 50 percent of the class showing up consistently, you would need many fewer staff than today, where there's a required number of days and hours of attendance, etc.

November 4, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Dusty D said...

BF: Good counterpoint about the administrative ratio between the Thumb district and AA. And things like modern technology, as you say, create new positions. Also the sheer size of multiple high schools demands more maintenance personnel--YHS was just 1 medium-sized building then, with, as you say, far fewer students.

I do think that NCLB and MEAP seem more classroom-based requirements, though--the teacher's responsibility. Do these requirements entail more administrative positions in schools? I hope not.

Also, I'm not sure why AA runs school buses when the entire incorporated city area of AA has one AATA bus stop every 1/4 mile, according to, I think, AATA. Why not use the city buses? Even if you give the kids bus passes it would be far cheaper. Seems redundant and wasteful to me. And the transportation director earns over $100,000, for reasons that are unclear to me.

Other points to consider:

There were no unions.

Carrie Hardy as you know was a teacher at YHS for quite a few years--a veteran. She owned a car in 1919, but lived in an apartment on River Street and several times complains about how prices of ordinary things like clothes are expensive (though the war inflated some prices).

There also were, so far as I know, no medical benefits or pension benefits. You may remember Carrie had to pay for doctors' visits, when she was sick last August, out of her own pocket.

I recently learned Carrie married quite late in life. Might the lack of a pension have factored into her decision to marry? I do not know.

Anyways, good conversation thus far.

Here's a link to the top-paid AA school personnel.

November 4, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Dusty D said...

Lisele: That's true, it does sound as if her attendance was somewhat irregular. She did get good marks though, in Latin at least as I remember, and said she passed History.

November 4, 2009 at 3:38 PM
Anonymous said...

School districts need to consolidate. You figure that each superintendent is making over $100k (and sometimes much more) and then there is all of his/her administrative staff.
Before Rob Bobb came to town, I had a boss. She had an executive director, who had a boss, who had a district director, who reported to an ass't superintendent. Union or no, all of these ladies made much more $ than me (granted, they work all year).
If we got rid of the administrative bureaucracy and if we had some sort of national health care plan where our districts wouldn't have to pay so much...well, I think we could hire more teachers and make classes smaller. (Smaller classes, IMHO, are key to real reform)

November 4, 2009 at 7:34 PM
Dusty D said...

Teacher Patti: You know, you came to mind through this millage debacle, as an example of exactly the person they should never cut.

All those layers?! I counted FIVE LAYERS of administration. That seems utterly ridiculous. Good Lord, what a cash cow.

November 4, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Murph. said...

Regarding AATA buses vs. AAPS school buses, let's just consider the high schools, for simplicity's sake:

Many students at Community ride the AATA to school - it's only a few blocks from the downtown bus station. Many of Stone's students also ride AATA - it's a pretty small school, and right on the frequent #5 line.

Huron has 2000 students, and only one bus line that travels near it. All of those students need to be at school at roughly the same time. The bus has a capacity of 50-60. Clearly, some logistical issues here.

I think 2 AATA lines run past Pioneer, but still not nearly enough for 2000 students.

Add to it that the time the students need to go to school is AATA's morning peak commuting time - it's not as if they can reroute/concentrate buses to serve the schools at that time.

This is not to say that it's unimaginable that AATA could fold some of the school districts' busing into it's system. It would require likely overhauling the entire route map of AATA to serve the new peak hour demand patterns, and it would still require an entire supplementary fleet of buses (and drivers) to handle the morning and evening rushes. You might be able to remove an administrative position or three, but that savings is a tiny percentage of the overall costs of the system - labor costs for drivers are the lions share of any transit system's operating costs.

November 7, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Murph. said...

Ironically, the best way of reducing busing costs would be to spread students out amongst more schools, closer to where they live.

A larger number of schools would allow more students to walk or bike to school from their homes, reducing the number who need busing.

But, of course, you add costs for every school. We've spent decades concentrating and combining schools in order to "reduce administrative costs" - note the calls by many to eliminate Community and Stone High Schools in A2 and put those students into the larger high schools for exactly this reason - creating our own busing costs problem.

Times like this, when everybody's jumping up with their ideas on how "obvious" the cost savings would be, it's good to remember TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

November 7, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Dusty D said...

Good points, Murph, and your points are well taken. It's not inconceivable, however, for AATA to add a bus or two to peak school times if they're assured of paying customers; anything is possible. And I chatted with a parapro who said there were 5 levels of administrators between her and the ultimate boss. 5? Do we need 5 levels of administrators? I doubt it.

November 9, 2009 at 7:55 AM

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