The New School

Glenn Reynolds, of Instapundit fame has written a book, The New School, which talks about education, from K-12 through college.  I haven't read it, nor bought it, but The Blaze gives us some quotes about the book.  I think that this quote is remarkably interesting.

there are a lot of people who benefit from keeping teens infantilized. That includes people in our ever more expensive K-12 education system. What’s more, as we’ve increased the amount of money going in, there’s been no corresponding increase in learning. One reason for that is that a disproportionate amount of money has gone into administration, rather than teaching. [According to a report titled The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America's Public Schools] “Between 1950 and 2009, the number of K-12 public school students increased by 96 percent. During that same period, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school employees grew by 386 percent. Of those personnel, the number of teachers increased by 252 percent, while the ranks of administrators and other staff grew by 702 percent — more than 7 times the increase in students. These education administrators don’t teach; if anything, they create excess paperwork for the people who do…This is one reason more money hasn’t improved things: it’s not going to teaching but to paper pushing.” (pg. 67)

That matches my experience exactly.  In the ten years I've been in the school system, there has been a noticeable increase in administrative personnel, who tend to put more work on the teaching staff.  

I may have to buy Professor Reynold's book and drop a copy on the superintendent's desk.