According to a new report from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, government school populations are slowly increasing while administrative and teacher hiring has exploded. According to the report:
Between FY 1992 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students nationwide grew 17 percent while the number of full-time equivalent school employees increased 39 percent, 2.3 times greater than the increase in students over that 18-year period. Among school personnel, teachers’ staffing numbers rose 32 percent while administrators and other staff experienced growth of 46 percent; the growth in the number of administrators and other staff was 2.7 times that of students.
New Mexico’s bloat was even more extreme than the rest of the nation due in large part to its slow-growing student population which rose at 7 percent, less-than half the national average, while hiring kept pace with national trends.
Meanwhile, total school personnel in New Mexico increased 39 percent, teacher hiring rose at the slightly lower rate of 30 percent, and administrators and other staff grew by an astonishing 47 percent.
Check out the interactive map associated with this report here. Note that the bloat affecting New Mexico has not happened in many other states, including neighboring Arizona.