WHEN TWO NUMBERS MOVE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS
Dearest reader,
Sometimes a challenge to the ledger sends me back to the abacus.
And sometimes, after doing that, the most useful result isn't a correction. It's a better explanation of exactly what is being measured.
Earlier, I published a comparison of Michigan school districts that were losing pupils while increasing district/central administration between 2014–15 and 2024–25.
That distinction matters.
This is not a ranking of which Michigan districts added the most central administrators.
It is also not a ranking of which districts lost the most pupils.
It is looking for districts where both things happened at the same time, substantial pupil decline coupled with substantial growth in central-administration FTE.
So I went back and ran the statewide data again, this time formalizing the methodology so there is no ambiguity about how the ranking works.
Every district that both lost pupil FTE and added central-administration FTE was ranked twice: once by the raw number of pupil FTE lost, and once by the raw number of central-admin FTE added. Those two rankings were then combined. The lowest combined score ranks highest. In the event of a tie, the district with the greater increase in central-administration FTE ranks higher.
The statewide Top Five under that methodology are:
1. Grand Rapids Public Schools
Pupil FTE: −3,665.71
Central Administration: +19.50 FTE
2. Chippewa Valley Schools
Pupil FTE: −2,287.53
Central Administration: +21.38 FTE
3. Lansing Public School District
Pupil FTE: −1,952.61
Central Administration: +21.06 FTE
4. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
Pupil FTE: −1,578.40
Central Administration: +45.75 FTE
5. Livonia Public Schools
Pupil FTE: −1,886.20
Central Administration: +17.20 FTE
And here's why methodology matters.
Rochester Community Schools, for example, added 23.97 central-administration FTE during this period, one of the largest increases in Michigan. But it lost only about 220 pupil FTE.
If I were ranking central-administration growth alone, Rochester would belong near the very top.
But that's a different question.
The question here is:
Which Michigan districts experienced some of the largest pupil declines while simultaneously experiencing some of the largest increases in central administration?
Those are two variables, and both have to count.
There is another important lesson here.
My earlier Top Five was drawn from a dataset that did not contain every Michigan district. When the full statewide universe is used, Grand Rapids and Lansing enter the Top Five, changing the statewide ranking.
That's worth correcting, and worth explaining precisely.
I don't expect readers to take a Lady's arithmetic on faith. Quite the opposite. Check it. Challenge it. Ask how something was calculated.
But when we check one another's work, we also have to make sure we're answering the same question with the same methodology.
The ledger is better when the methodology is as visible as the numbers themselves.
And this one is now.
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown
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