This WSJ editorial shows how The Blob grows and grows during good times, but rarely shrinks even in tough times like today:

This disconnect between student enrollment and the number of teachers hired is growing nationwide. Between 2001 and 2007, 12 states saw student enrollment fall while teaching staffs grew, according to data from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. And in another half-dozen states, teachers were hired out of all proportion to increased enrollment.

For example, Virginia's student enrollment grew by 5% and the number of teachers grew by 21%. In Florida, student enrollment rose by 6% and the number of teachers rose by 20%. Student enrollment was up by 9% in North Carolina, where the number of teachers was up by 22%.

"There ought to be some relationship between hiring personnel and the needs of students," says Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency, a research organization. "At what point do we say that we're hiring too many teachers for the number of students that we have?"

When hires are determined by the money available instead of the staff needed, school districts become bloated in the good times. Yet when tax revenue falls in a recession, union pressure makes it next to impossible to cut teacher rolls. States raise taxes instead of re-examining enrollment and student needs, which creates a hiring ratchet that leaves states with an ever higher number of teachers, regardless of enrollment.

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• APRIL 12, 2010
• WSJ editorial
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303720604575169992370915372.html

Fewer Students, More Teachers

Even as enrollment falls, school districts keep hiring.