24 Jun 2009
Study by Council of Great City Schools Presented to Board of Trustees
An extensive report by the Council of Great City Schools has determined that the Dallas Independent School District’s administrative costs are at or slightly below the national median among other urban school districts and Texas school districts.
The report was presented to trustees at a special called board meeting today."Dallas ISD’s administrative costs are in line with what is taking place in other school districts throughout the country," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools. "Dallas is among a handful of urban school districts that are at the forefront of academic improvement, yet its administrative costs are on par or slightly below that of other urban school districts."
Last fall, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees asked the Council of Great City Schools, the nation’s primary coalition of large urban school systems, to examine the staffing levels of the district and determine whether the number of staff members employed were appropriate. The council has conducted nearly 180 various studies of its member school systems over the last ten years.
"Dallas is more likely to predict the median on most staffing categories than most other school systems examined," said Casserly. "Dallas ISD is not spending a disproportionate amount on administrative services at either the district or school levels compared with other districts nationally."
Dallas is well within the range of comparison districts in terms of overall administrative staff compared to students, as well as administrative staff to total number of teachers and staff. The report also noted the district’s recent academic gains.
"The Dallas Independent School District and the students it serves have made substantial strides over the last several years," said Casserly. "Its academic gains have been some of the most impressive in the country, and the district is now viewed as one of the nation’s fastest improving urban school systems."
The study also addressed the district’s financial shortfall and how the board and administration moved aggressively to reduce payroll, streamline administrative layers, and tighten position controls.
"There were not many other cost-cutting strategies that could have been pursued, since so much of the school system’s budget is composed of personnel costs," said the report. "The cutbacks instituted by the board and the administration bring the staffing levels of the Dallas Independent School District into greater alignment with other school systems across the country than it was in the past."