School reform plan flawed // Bureaucrats may be `protected'

The state Legislature's plan to cut Chicago school bureaucracyactually could protect many administrators while targeting employeeswho work in the schools, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows.

Responding to allegations that the Chicago public schools have abloated bureaucracy, legislators concocted a formula that seeks tokeep Chicago's administrative overhead in line with other unit schoolsystems statewide.

However, limits imposed by the Legislature don't just targetcentral office bureaucrats. They also apply to principals and theirassistants and secretaries, school security and maintenance,transportation, lunchroom services and in-service training fornon-instructional staff, such as school clerks.

The apparent mistake calls into question the $46 million thatschool reformers say could be saved by administrative spending limitsin the Chicago school reform bill.

The bill is on the desk of Gov. Thompson, who has until Sept. 26to sign or veto it.

As written, the formula capping administrative spending excludescurriculum development and "activities associated with directing andmanaging" attendance, social work, counseling, instructionalimprovement, health services, psychological services and speechpathology and audiology services.

Among the areas open to cuts are security and maintenance -singled out elsewhere in the school reform bill as areas wherespending should be "maximized."

Asked about the conflict, Rep. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said:"If there are mistakes, we'll make changes so the bill conforms withwhat we thought we were passing."

One person involved in writing the formula, who asked not to beidentified, speculated that mistakes arose from a misinterpretationof a January report by state Education Supt. Ted Sanders.

The report, an analysis of administrative spending, was issuedby Sanders to show that Chicago was not out of line with otherdistricts.

The analysis showed that Chicago did not spend much more,proportionately, than other school districts in the metropolitanarea. But it did show the system spent significantly more than otherunit districts statewide. A unit district includes elementary andhigh schools.

To meet the metropolitan-area average, Chicago would have to cut$5 million from the items analyzed. To meet the statewide averagefor unit districts, Chicago would have to cut $46 million.

Diana Lauber of the Chicago Panel on Public School Policy andFinance, who helped write the formula, said the $46 million beingtouted as forthcoming administrative savings was lifted from theSanders analysis.

But the formula does not follow Sanders' analysis precisely.Sanders studied selected items from four sections of annual schoolfinance reports. In creating their administrative limit, legislatorsincluded all items in those four sections.

Further, the formula does not go beyond Sanders' four sections,and thus it excludes administration dealing with curriculum,counseling and other instructional programs.

"Maybe they should be included," Lauber said.

Meanwhile, Chicago school administrators contend that theformula does not account for the higher salary levels in themetropolitan area and extra programs Chicago offers for poor,bilingual and other children with special needs.