What percentage do administrative salaries have in your school's list of expenses?

[Anonymous]

I suppose the subject line says it all. I am just trying to discern what percentage figure (e.g. 15%, 25%, etc.) administrative salaries occupy at the region's private schools. Are you, the parents, privy to this information or is it withheld?
My daughter attends a private school, and I get the feeling that the administration is becoming ever more bloated without accomplishing much whilst teachers are laid off, and tuition is raised.

[Anonymous]

What's the % at your daughter's private school?

Have you checked NAIS and Independent Education (AISGW)? I think they have aggregate data available.

[Anonymous]

The fastest way to cut down on administrative "bloat" is for parents to stop lobbing ideas for new programs and events on a daily basis, and stop needing to be spoon-fed the same information in twenty different formats. There's a keeping up with the Joneses going on in DC private schools. Schools cannot be all things without tuition prices going up, up, up.

[Anonymous]

I"m wondering the same thing OP. And how do you judge what is reasonable in this situation? I want to say that at our school, it's something like 55% for teacher and admin salaries. Does that sound about right? I need to go check the details from an annual report.

[Anonymous]

If you want to know who is highly paid at your child's school, look up their form 990. This can be found on Guidestar and other places online. This will usually include the HOS and other admin, as well as some teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know who is highly paid at your child's school, look up their form 990. This can be found on Guidestar and other places online. This will usually include the HOS and other admin, as well as some teachers.

The reporting requirement doesn't apply to religious schools, though. (Ha!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The reporting requirement doesn't apply to religious schools, though. (Ha!)

What a shame!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reporting requirement doesn't apply to religious schools, though. (Ha!)

What a shame!

Go to a secular school if it bothers you. And if you really want to understand school finance, get on the board of your school and you'll see that there aren't really any quick fixes.

[Anonymous]

I love this discussion! I wonder if a private school will really disclose the details of their operating budget? I was reading a local blog about capital spending, but it was regarding selecting a private school. It talked about ways a private school can be tricky about hiding spending costs at the expense of teacher training--just like you mention. It was called:
Sizing Up the School's Capital Spending: http://process999.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/sizing-up-a-schools-capital-spending-beware-of-the-potemkin-village/