Audit: Iowa public school administrative costs up 20% in 6 years

An audit by the state of Iowa showed administrative costs for public schools went up by 20% over the last six years as some lawmakers seek crack down on top-heavy education.

Democratic state auditor, Rob Sand, says the increase is slightly under than the inflation rate over the same period.

But many in the GOP won’t be mollified by the results of the audit, after taking concrete steps in the last year to lower administrative bloat.  

“We had good records for going back the last five years for every public school district in the state of Iowa and saw that, in fact, administrative expenses grew slightly slower than inflation,” Sand told the Des Moines Register.  

In a report dated Sept. 26, the auditor found that “While between FY2017 and FY2022 the administrative cost per pupil nominally grew 19.9%, when accounting for inflation it actually decreased by 0.9% in real terms.”  

The audit showed that “Business and Central Administration (superintendents, fiscal services, human resources, etc.) was the only type of administrative spending that saw a real increase,” after accounting for inflation. 

According to the audit, such costs, called “School and Building Administration,” account for 50-52% of administrative budgets. 

By law, administrative costs in public schools are limited to 5% growth.   

But many in the GOP aren’t satisfied with that cap.  

In March, the state Senate passed a bill, Senate Bill 251, that would change the way administrative costs are calculated. 

The bill seeks to tighten up the definition of administrative costs that are now being hidden as direct cost for instruction, say critics of the current calculations.  

“What we are trying to do is drive dollars into the classroom,” said Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, who sponsored the legislation, according to local KCCI News 8. “There is a local school district that has three pages of administrators that has cell phone allowance, travel allowance, deferred compensation and the list goes on. And to me, that’s an abuse of taxpayer dollars.” 

Zaun told KCCI that the intention of the bill is to make sure that districts aren’t top heavy with administrative costs.  

The Iowa House has not yet taken up the bill, despite a large Republican majority.