Iowa Politics with Jeff Stein -- Wed. Sep. 02, 2026

Top Heavy.

I'm Jeff Stein with today's Iowa Politics Report.

There are fewer students in Iowa public schools these days, but more administrators.

That's according to a new report from Common Sense Institute, Iowa.

CSI Iowa says since the 2014-2015 school year, enrollment has fallen 2.0% statewide.

But at the same time, the number of administrators has increased by 11.8%.

CSI estimates that had administrative staffing remained aligned with its post-pandemic student ratio

Iowa schools today would employ roughly 202 fewer administrators at a savings of $27 million in salary alone annually.

By the way, that $27 million would cover around 400 average Iowa teacher salaries.

The average Iowa teacher makes $67,000 per year while the average administrator

Cash's checks for nearly 134,000.

Literally twice what a teacher makes on that metric.

With so many districts running deficits these days, and administrators apparently claiming they didn't see that coming, you have to wonder what we're getting for all that money.

CSI further notes that salaries and benefits account for more than four out of every five Iowa K-12 education dollars.

That 81.9% in personnel costs is more than five points above the national average and places Iowa fifth highest in the nation in percentage spent.

And in the last six school years, Iowa's administrative growth far outpaces the Midwest as a whole.

Administrator headcount in Iowa grew by 6.8% over that time compared with just 3.2% in the Midwest as a whole.

Now, I have a public school education from long ago, but I think I can figure out the problem.

And that's the Iowa Politics Report for Wednesday, September 2 on Twitter, Instagram, Gitter, Threads and Truth Social at Iowa Politics.

I'm Jeff Stein on News Talk 1540, KXEL.