Public School Administration

• DOI: 10.1177/00953999922019229
• Published date: 01 September 1999
• Date: 01 September 1999
• Author: Christopher A. Simon
• Subject Matter: Articles

ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY / September 1999Simon / PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

The purpose of this article is to explorethe open systems characteristics of public schools by

applying JamesD. Thompson’s contingency theory to the study of school district central ad-

ministration expendituresin Washington State. In this analysis, contingency theory appears

to offer a fairly good explanation for central administrative expenditures.The model indi-

cates that administrative expendituresare a function of the organizational environment and

the stability of resource providers. Stable organizational environments and consistent re-

source providersare associated with smaller school administration, due to the more limited

need for substantial organizational buffering.

PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Employing Thompson’s Structural

Contingency Theory to Explain

Public School Administrative

Expenditures in Washington State

CHRISTOPHER A. SIMON

University of Nevada, Reno

Despite a formal structure largely grounded in classical organizational

theory, the “common school” systems in the United States function in

large part as “open systems” (Cubberley, 1919; Dewey, 1938; Spring,

1976). The core missions of public schools, the administration of the

organization, and the organizational output historically have been—to a

great extent—shaped by demands emanating from the organizational

environment. As units of local government, public school districts are

naturalforumsfordiscourseanddebate.Althougheducationservesavital

public function, it remains a highly personal matter—perhaps best docu-

mented by evidence of public support for various choice mechanisms in

525

AUTHOR’SNOTE: I wish to thank Professors Nicholas P.Lovrich, David C. Nice, John C.

Pierce,and Brent S. Steelfor reading and commenting onearlier drafts of this work.I wish to

acknowledgeEnrico Yap, Ph.D., O.S.P.I.,Olympia, Washington, for his assistance with data

collection.

ADMINISTRATION& SOCIETY, Vol.31 No. 4, September 1999 525-541

© 1999 Sage Publications, Inc.

elementary and secondary education. Given these circumstances, the

organizational environment of public schools is likely to act as a major

constraint on the behavior of school organizations.

Environmentalfactors likely to influence school districtadministrative

expenditures frequently relate to socioeconomic disadvantages that shape

school children’s educational achievement (e.g., poverty or limited Eng-

lish proficiency). Toadvance the organizational core mission of providing

equitable educational opportunities to all students, increased administra-

tive expenditures are often required to better facilitate the learning

process, reducing the impact of socioeconomic disadvantages on educa-

tional accomplishment.

A lack of support among school district voters occasionally acts as an

environmental constraint on school district organizations. Voters might

reject school district supplemental levies without a full understanding of

school district goals and achievements. In this circumstance, increased

schooldistrictadministrativeexpenditures would likely serve to protect or

buffer the core mission and technology of the school district organization

from environmental influences.

While recognizing the open systems nature of public schools, the prin-

ciples of organizational theory would support the argument that public

schoolsseektorationalizetheirtaskenvironments.Developing an empiri-

cal explanation for public school bureaucracy will advance our under-

standing of those factors likely to shape the size of bureaucratic expendi-

tures in public school districts. The principles of open systems theory

would support the contention that administrative expenditure is, in part, a

function of environmental conditions.

Contingency theory—a variant of open systems theory (Hall, 1977)—

will serve as the foundation for this analysis. Employing a cross-sectional

design,perpupil public school administrativeexpendituresfor schooldis-

tricts in the State of Washington will be modeled, employing indicators

representing organizational core technologies, relativesize, revenue sources,

and organizational environmental conditions. In addition, curvilinear

relationships will be explored to determine the possible complexity of the

relationships between the dependent variable (per pupil expenditures for

district central administration) and the various independent variables.

STRUCTURAL CONTINGENCY THEORY

Structural contingency theory traces its origins to the organizational

behavior tradition established by Herbert Simon, James March, and

526 ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY / September 1999