At a time when Colorado school districts insist they don’t have enough money — even as per-pupil funding has risen — their willingness to pad bureaucracy hasn’t wavered.

And the growth of bureaucratic bloat has continued, inexplicably, despite declining enrollment. That’s right: The front offices at the state’s largest school districts have expanded even as there have been fewer kids to teach.

Research by the nonpartisan Common Sense Institute recently found that Colorado’s public schools added 263 administrators in five years, a 13.1% jump amid shrinking enrollment and teacher workforce.

Now, a follow-up report from Common Sense Institute reveals that the growth has been concentrated among the state’s 15 largest districts, serving 69% of the state’s students and accounting for 70% of the net statewide administrator increase.

Of 178 districts statewide, 90 held flat. Just 33 cut back.

The 15 largest districts combined added a net 183 administrators — a 16.2% expansion — while losing more than 9,000 students and cutting 577 teaching positions.

Classrooms held steady, averaging roughly 16 students per teacher. Administration is another story. Students per administrator dropped from 520 to 441.

Twelve of the 15 districts expanded administrative ranks. Only two — Aurora Public Schools and Mesa County Valley 51 — trimmed. Adams 12 stayed the same.

Nowhere is this dysfunctional trend more glaring than in the state’s largest district, Denver Public Schools.

It now employs 571 administrators — more than the next 10-largest districts combined — despite serving four and a half times as many students as Denver (400,639 combined to Denver’s 89,210).

Denver added 78 administrators, or 43% of the top 15’s net increase, while the next 10 added 71 total.

Statewide enrollment has dropped by nearly 16,000 students over the past five years. Denver, however, managed slight 0.4% growth, largely due to an influx of illegal immigrant students. 

But the district can’t hide behind operating more schools than other districts. Even by that measure, Denver Public Schools averages 2.96 administrators per school.

The district’s defense is that Superintendent Alex Marrero has cut 149 central office jobs, saving $21.5 million — including 50 this spring after the latest state staffing data.

Even then, the math still doesn’t save it. Assuming all 50 cuts came from the ranks of administrators, Denver Public Schools would still employ more than 520 — well above its 493 administrators in 2021. Nor does that explain the four preceding years of hiring.

Meanwhile, Denver Public Schools shed 274 teaching positions, a 4.2% decline.

Fourteen of the 15 largest districts now stretch their administrators across fewer teachers than in 2021. In Denver, it’s just 11 teachers per administrator, down from 13. Jefferson County, the state’s second-largest, went from 60 to 50. The leanest of the districts, Douglas County, slid from 136 to 107.

The sole exception is Mesa County Valley 51, which sliced its administration by 21.2% — the steepest cut on the list — and posted the strongest combined SAT gains of any large district.

Among the top districts as a group, average SAT math proficiency dropped from 36.1% to 33.6% — falling in 12 of the 15 districts from 2021 to 2025 — while reading and writing rose from 59.4% to 62%.

Only three — Denver Public Schools, St. Vrain Valley and Mesa — posted gains in both SAT subjects. Denver’s rose a modest 3.4 and 2.2 percentage points to a still-dismal 32.4% in math proficiency and 53.2% in reading/writing. 

There isn’t a “clear correlation” between administrative ranks and test scores, Common Sense Institute notes, but amid a tight budget environment, “administrative growth should be tied to measurable benefits for students.”

On the evidence Common Sense Institute’s latest report lays bare, only one district can make that case — the one that reduced its ranks.

How long will Colorado’s school districts rob kids and classrooms to cover more overhead? As long as the public permits it. Parents and the rest of the taxpaying public might want to drop in on their next local school board meeting and demand answers.