More teachers less students

I was viewing some well-published information from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. The later report gives a snapshot of finances and labor costs of the American public school system. The information revealed was quite interesting.

Both reports address the 2008-2009 school year. During that year there were 48,238,962 students enrolled in the U.S. K-12 public education system. Overall, that was a decline of 157,114 students from the previous year.

There were 3,231,487 full-time teachers, an increase of 81,426 teachers from the previous year. During the same year, the public education work force (teachers, principals, administrators, and support workers grew by 137,000). For every student lost, a teacher or principal, or administrator and support person was hired.

The bottom line is 27 states had fewer students in 2009 vs. 2008; 16 of the states hired more teachers. I find this very unusual that hiring more teachers with fewer students to teach is a bit confusing? One would think the ratio of teachers to students would greatly enhance student learning and raise overall student test scores.

Jim Lowery