Teacherpocalypse Continues: Now With More Teachers, Fewer Students

In 2008-2009, American public schools picked up an additional 81,426 teachers. In the same period, the number of students declined by 157,114.

To review: More teachers, fewer students to teach.

This new batch of Census data about education spending should squelch the tired old line that mean Republicans with their budget crises are sending teachers to the nation's poorhouses by the thousands. Teachers are not under seige—far from it.

Some other facts along the same line, crunched for your convenience by the folks at the Education Intelligence Agency: 

Twenty-seven states had fewer students in 2009 than in 2008, but 16 of them hired more teachers.

This time period is particularly unbalanced; $100 billion in stimulus funds flowed into local school systems from the federal government. The money was intended to save existing education jobs, but a subsidy for something has a funny way of producing more of it.

Still, even in relatively less stimulated years, the trend is just as absurd. The number of teachers is growing much faster than the student population:

From 2004 to 2009, student enrollment increased a cumulative 0.7 percent, while the K-12 teacher workforce increased 6.5 percent. Per-pupil spending increased 26.7 percent (about 12.5% after correcting for inflation). Spending on education employee salaries and benefits increased 27.5 percent.

Via Reason Foundation education guru Lisa Snell.