Heidi Pezdek
Indiana stats: Teachers, Administrators, and Non-Teaching Staff
The more that a school corporation spends on overhead and administrative staff salaries, the less available resources it can devote to direct classroom expenditures, especially teacher compensation. Indiana data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that between the 2007-2008 and 2016-2017 school years, traditional public-school enrollment decreased by 3% and the number of teachers decreased by 3.5%. However, the number of public-school administrative staff increased by 31% over the same time period. A March 2019 NCES report found Indiana had the third lowest percentage in the nation (41.4%) of public K-12 staff serving as classroom teachers. During 2012 – 2014 Indiana’s percentage of K-12 staff serving as classroom teachers was the lowest in the country.
Indiana Teacher Salaries
School corporation resource allocations, such as staffing and teacher salaries, inevitably vary district- by-district given unique needs and local decision making. While teacher salaries are determined by local school boards, the state does contribute directly to teacher pay through Teacher Appreciation Grants (TAG). For the 2018-2019 school year, DOE recommended that schools provide ‘Highly Effective’ and ‘Effective’ teachers $320 and $220, respectively, from the $30M provided by the state for the TAG program. TAG grants provide extra income to teachers by supplementing the base salary increases and/or one-time stipends provided by local schools. The TAG program was increased to $37.5M per year in the current biennial budget.
The money is there; unions are not directing teachers to their local school boards and school corporations. Vet your districts’ budgets.
Dollars-to-the-Classroom
Only 58.1% of public-school expenditures made it to the classroom during the 2016-17 school year (FY 2017) according to the latest ‘Dollars-to-the-Classroom Report’ released by the Indiana Office of Management and Budget. Out of 381 traditional and public charter schools, 233 (61%) increased their percentage of dollars to the classroom from the previous year. The primary driver of the increase between FY 2016 and FY 2017 was school personnel salaries: certified salary (teachers and principals) spending increased $117M and non-certified salaries $50M. As the table below illustrates, the dollars- to-the-classroom metric has declined since hitting a peak of 61.4% in FY 2007.
Percentage of Total School Expenditures on Student Instruction (Dollars-to-the-Classroom)
Where the money comes from:
The average Indiana public school teacher salary was $52,737, which is higher than the amount reported by the NEA; it is also higher than EERB’s 2017-2018 figure ($50,425). 82% of certified positions received a base salary increase—the average was $1,299. 62% of certified positions received a one-time stipend—the average was $897.
Looks like the School Budget has been feeding the Administration at the expense of the classroom. It is top heavy!
