Peoria Board of Education member Jim Stowell has passed along a report he requested from staff on “Pupil-Teacher and Pupil-Administrator Ratios” from 1989 to 2008.

The report shows that, while enrollment has steadily declined over the past 20 years, the number of administrators has gone up. The pupil-administrator ratio in 1989 was 223.5:1. Last year it was 168.1:1.

Some questions remain. The report notes that deans used to be considered teachers by the Illinois State Board of Education, but are now considered administrators. That makes historical comparisons more difficult. However, the report doesn’t tell us how many deans there are in the district, or how big of a difference their change of status makes.

The report also does not define exactly who is and who is not considered an “administrator.” For instance, does this figure include the many consultants who retired, but were rehired on a per diem basis, like Cindy Fischer? Or does it only include full-time administrator positions?

Still, returning to the question of deans being changed from “teacher” to “administrator,” I don’t think this is enough to explain away the rise in administrators. In order for the district to have the same pupil-administrator ratio as 1989 (223.5:1) with 2008’s enrollment (13,642), they would have to have only 61 administrators. They have 81. No matter how you look at it, the administration is top-heavy.