The Education Code requires that school districts maximize the allocation of resources to the classroom and not to bureaucracy by financially penalizing any district that exceeds certain ratios of teachers per administrator. For a unified school district, the minimum number of teachers per administrator allowed before financial penalties are levied is 12.5 teachers per 1 administrator. For the 1998-99 reporting year, no unified district in the state fell below the state standard. More significantly, in comparison to unified school districts with 1,000 or more teachers in Los Angeles County, the PUSD has the lowest ratio of teachers to administrators of any other unified district. Los Angeles Unified is so much larger than PUSD, that it is omitted for comparison purposes.
Many school districts are able to manage more teachers with fewer administrators.
PUSD's higher number of administrators could theoretically be attributable to its numerous special programs to meet the needs of students. However, state law requires any administrators or teachers funded with federal funds or categorical grants to be excluded from the ratio calculation. Thus, the ratio as calculated should not be skewed by special grant programs and demonstration projects that are of a temporary nature. The Vogel Report in 1996 showed how complex such an audit can be, but also how illuminating and helpful to improving District operations. This report raises concerns about District operations in the areas of maintenance of school facilities, use of technology, and teacher-administrator ratio.