A recently released report shows that Mississippi school districts have prioritized pay increases for administrative staff such as superintendents, deputy superintendents and assistant principals as compared to classroom teachers.
The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) analyzed data from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2016 and found the ratio of deputy superintendents to students increased compared for the same ratio for teachers.
The OSA examined the salaries and number of teachers and administrative staff such as superintendents, deputy superintendents, principals and assistant principals. Auditors also reviewed the ratio of students to administrators as well.
During the surveyed timeframe, auditors found the average teacher salary had increased by $2,602 or 6.22 percent. During that same time, superintendents received $7,700 in salary increases, $4,968 for deputy superintendents and $3,295 for assistant principals.
The auditor’s office compared student ratios for both teachers and administrators and found that Mississippi superintendents, as compared to those in Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, were in charge of fewer students on average. Mississippi also has the second-highest ratio, as compared to those three states, of students to teachers, meaning each teacher has more students in their classroom.
One of the reasons is that Mississippi has 82 counties and 144 separate school districts. The report did find that the ratio of students to superintendents had increased over that time period, likely due to district consolidation.
The number of school districts has declined from 152 in 2014 to 138 by the time six more consolidations are complete.
Principals received the smallest raises by dollar amount, earning only $2,255 more in additional salary from 2013 to 2016.
The auditor’s office is launching a pilot project with three school districts to perform a detailed examination of each district’s spending. The OSA will partner with nationally-recognized education data analysts to find unnecessary administrative spending and compare the three districts’ budgets to benchmarks nationwide.
A previous report by the auditor’s office found spending on administrative costs had increased faster than spending on instruction over the past decade. Another report found that Mississippi spends more on administration than other states in the South.
