Contrary to public perception, Colorado’s public schools are receiving more money than ever. Average per-pupil funding has increased 27% in just four years despite declining enrollment.

Yet, rather than ensuring those resources go into classrooms, districts are padding bureaucracy at the expense of students.

That’s the upshot of a new report from the nonpartisan Common Sense Institute.

Statewide enrollment K-12 has declined from 886,517 students to 870,793 over the past five years — a drop of over 15,000 students — and the number of teachers followed a similar pattern.

Yet, administration grew significantly. The number of school district administrators jumped 13.1% statewide — from 2,014 to 2,277 — even as student performance has stagnated and in some cases declined.

The Colorado Department of Education counts education supervisors, managers, directors and superintendents among those positions, but not principals.

The Common Sense Institute found administrative staffing growth is “increasingly detached from the number of students the system serves and the academic outcomes it produces.” 

Fewer than 4 in 10 high school students met or exceeded state standards — declining in five of six reading, writing and math categories, with a “progressively smaller percentage” meeting proficiency requirements as they advance.

More money per student clearly isn’t solving the problem. Diverting that money to new administrators certainly isn’t helping.

Nowhere is this dysfunctional trend more apparent than in Colorado’s largest school district.

Enrollment in Denver Public Schools has been temporarily cushioned by an influx of illegal immigrant students. That has begun to wane.

As The Gazette reports, the district has closed at least 10 schools and restructured three, all while adding 78 administrator positions — a 15.8% boost to 571 administrators.

That’s slightly less than the 586 at its 2019 enrollment peak, before the decline that followed the pandemic.

The district insists Superintendent Alex Marrero has cut 149 central office jobs, generating $21.5 million in budget savings. Those include 50 cuts this past spring, which the district says came after the Colorado Department of Education’s most recent staffing data.

A district spokesman said the cuts are a response to declining enrollment and revenue.

Nevertheless, Denver Public Schools has rebuilt its administrative ranks to near-2019 levels at the same time it has cut 262 teaching jobs — a 4% decline.

“It’s very concerning to see administrative staff growing because it suggests a lack of fiscal responsibility,” said Lisi Owen, an attorney representing parent group Mamás de DPS. “In the face of their own stated financial crisis, you don’t add administrative staff in such a crisis.” 

Owen’s Denver Public Schools warning applies to districts throughout the state.

Colorado has 42,440 fewer public school students today than it did in 2019-2020. Yet state per-pupil funding is up 27%, administrators are up 13% and student achievement is headed south.

These developments haven’t stopped state legislators from using school funding concerns as an excuse to undermine — and even work to eliminate — the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

This fall, lawmakers are again asking voters to surrender their TABOR refunds in exchange for the mythical promise of more school money. But more money without accountability isn’t justified.

That’s the message Coloradans should send to school districts. They should contact their local school board members and state Board of Education representatives, urging them to put classrooms first and pump the brakes on administrative bloat.

Throwing more money at schools won’t cure what ails them if it is siphoned off to pay for more overhead. The answer is better stewardship of tax dollars the system is already getting.