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The rise in administration staff at Cincinnati Public Schools reflects a troubling shift.
The expansion of administration staff is overshadowing investment in teachers and students in Cincinnati.
Background on administration staff growth
The growth in administration staff has captured national attention. Across U.S. public schools, the number of administrators grew far faster than either student enrollment or teacher staffing. Research shows administrators increased by 45.5% from 1999 to 2019, while teachers grew by only about 5.4%. One recent analysis noted administrators grew by 87.6% between 2000 and 2019, compared with student growth of 7.6% over the same period.
While we don’t have a perfect local dataset for Cincinnati, this national trend raises serious questions for our local district.
Local snapshot: Cincinnati’s staffing and spending
In Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics for the 2023-24 school year show: staff count of about 6,788 full-time equivalents (FTE), including 2,152 classroom teachers and 4,636 “other staff” (which includes administrative support, school administrators, district administrative support, etc.).
| Staff category | FTE count | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom teachers | 2,152 | 31.7% |
| Other staff (administration, support, etc.) | 4,636 | 68.3% |
| Total staff | 6,788 | 100% |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2023–24 district staffing data for Cincinnati Public Schools.
In the same dataset, CPS reports spending of about $81.96 million on administration and related functions, representing approximately 13% of total expenditures.
That means over one in eight dollars spent is going into administrative overhead at the district level, rather than directly into classroom instruction.
Why increasing administration staff matters to students
When administration staff grows faster than teachers, some key consequences emerge:
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Resource diversion – More dollars and attention go into bureaucracy instead of classrooms.
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Instructional capacity squeeze – If fewer funds are left for teacher hires, class sizes or teacher workloads may worsen.
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Decision-making drift – When leadership layers increase, frontline decisions about instruction may get slower or more disconnected from classrooms.
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Opportunity cost – Every dollar spent on an additional administrator is a dollar not spent on curriculum, teacher training, student supports or direct services.
Taken together, the growth in administrative staffing risks reducing the district’s focus on what matters most for students: high-quality teaching, learning time, and student supports.
Specific risks for Cincinnati students
For Cincinnati Public Schools, the specific risks include:
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Student-teacher ratio at CPS stands at about 16.2:1 (2,152 teachers to ~34,860 students). If budget pressure arises, leaving this ratio stable may come at the cost of other support services (e.g., tutoring, counsellors).
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Given the administration expenditures at ~13 % of total spending, any further increase in administrative staffing could shrink the portion of the budget available for instructional investment.
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The district serves a high-needs population: many students require interventions, wrap-around supports, and personalized attention. When administrative overhead grows, those supports may be squeezed.
What Is Failing Inside Cincinnati Public Schools
Cincinnati Public Schools continue to struggle with several core academic and behavioral indicators, and these issues point to deeper problems than funding or staffing alone. The most urgent failures show up in college readiness rates and chronic absenteeism, two metrics directly tied to student success after graduation. These issues also highlight why expanding administrative layers doesn’t fix what is happening inside classrooms.
College readiness remains one of CPS’s weakest outcomes. According to the latest Ohio Department of Education report card, only about 13% of CPS students meet college readiness benchmarks, meaning they score high enough on ACT, SAT, or approved alternatives to avoid remedial classes in college. That means roughly nine out of ten students walk across the graduation stage without the skills colleges expect from incoming freshmen. This gap creates long-term consequences: higher student debt, lower completion rates, and weaker access to stable career paths.
Chronic truancy adds another level of strain. CPS consistently posts one of the highest chronic absenteeism rates among Ohio’s large districts. State data shows 43% of CPS students are chronically absent—missing 10% or more of the school year. In some high-poverty schools, that number exceeds 60%. When students miss that much class time, instructional quality, tutoring programs, and teacher talent can’t overcome the lost learning. Attendance problems ripple through the system, lowering test scores, weakening classroom stability, and increasing behavior issues.
Both metrics paint a picture of a district where core student outcomes are deteriorating faster than bureaucratic structures can respond. Rising administrative staff does not change that CPS students struggle to attend class regularly. More district-level titles do not change the academic reality that many students exit CPS classrooms unprepared for college, training programs, or workforce demands. Cincinnati families feel this gap acutely, and employers across the region increasingly highlight the disconnect between graduation rates and job readiness.
If CPS wants improvement, the priority must shift to direct student supports, school-level accountability, and attendance interventions—not administrative expansion. The district cannot afford another decade in which bureaucracy grows while student outcomes move the opposite direction.
What needs to change to refocus on students
To ensure administration staff growth doesn’t undermine student success, Cincinnati Public Schools should consider:
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Transparent staffing audits – Conduct a public review of administrative roles, growth over time, and how they relate to student outcomes.
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Prioritise classroom investment – Set targets to allocate a higher percentage of spending to instructional functions such as teachers, aides, and direct student supports.
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Lean decision-making – Reduce bureaucracy and eliminate redundant administrative layers so more decisions flow directly to schools and classrooms.
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Measure impact – Tie administrative growth to measurable student outcomes (test scores, graduation rates, student growth) and hold leadership accountable.
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Engage stakeholders – Teachers, parents and students should have a voice in how administrative resources are used and whether they translate into improved learning.
The bottom line for Cincinnati families
When administration staff grows unchecked, it isn’t harmless. For families at CPS, this trend means that dollars and leadership attention may drift away from classrooms and into the back office.
Every additional administrator is not a guarantee of better outcomes — unless that role directly supports teaching and learning. If the district wants to improve outcomes for students, it must align staff growth to student-centric goals, not administrative expansion.
As CPS moves forward with its Growth Plan and other reforms, monitoring administrative staffing trends will be vital to ensure students remain the primary focus.
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