MN district admin staff keeps growing despite declining student enrollment

District administrative staff in Minnesota public schools is up over 132 percent (132.1 percent) since 2000, according to the most recently available data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compiled by American Experiment. Principal and assistant principal growth over the same time period is up 50 percent. Compare those increases to student growth and teacher growth at 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Growth in Administrative Staff, Principals, Teachers, and Students
in Minnesota Public Schools (% Change Since 2000)

Sources: Digest of Education Statistics. National Center for Education Statistics. Staff employed in public elementary and secondary school systems, by type of assignment and state or jurisdiction, Fall 2000–Fall 2022; Digest of Education Statistics. National Center for Education Statistics. Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by region, state, and jurisdiction, Fall 1990-Fall 2031.

In fact, despite public school enrollment declining for the past four consecutive years, Minnesota public schools have continued to hire non-teaching staff. Since fall 2019 (pre-COVID), the number of district administrative staff has ticked up just under 4 percent. Principal and assistant principal growth is over 7 percent. But public school enrollment has dropped around 2.6 percent over that same time period.

And these non-teaching staff aren’t cheap. According to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB), the average superintendent salary for the 2023-24 school year was $158,188 — up 14.6 percent from the average of $137,977 during the 2019-20 school year. The average middle school principal salary for the 2023-24 school year came in at $134,542.

The concern is that such growth in non-teaching positions takes away limited dollars that could potentially go toward teacher salaries. The average teacher salary during that same time period increased 3.5 percent, to $72,430 for the 2023-24 school year. Total spending on district level administration statewide is up 24 percent since fiscal year 2019, compared to 11.4 percent growth in spending on regular instruction.

What’s driving the increase in non-teaching hires? Well, bureaucratic systems have one goal — growth. Because administrative staff and principals are ostensibly hired to support teachers, increasing the number of these positions doesn’t often raise red flags. More school spending means higher achievement, right? Unfortunately, not for Minnesota. Increased education funding doesn’t mean those are the actual dollars ending up in classrooms. Majorities of Minnesota students are not meeting grade-level benchmarks in reading and math, and graduation rates remain high despite declining academic performance.

Math/Reading Proficiency and Per-Pupil Spending
in Minnesota Public Schools

Sources: Minnesota Department of Education proficiency data; U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by Reason Foundation

Four-Year Graduation Rate and High School Math/Reading Proficiency in Minnesota Public Schools

Source: Minnesota Department of Education graduation data and proficiency data compiled by American Experiment