Contrary to popular perceptions, public school districts spend relatively little on administration, says a study by a U.S. Chamber of Commerce affiliate.

Districtwide administration accounted for 2 percent to 9.7 percent of the 1990-91 expenditures of eight school districts studied by the Center for Work Force Preparation and Quality Education.School-based administration ranged from 4.5 percent to 9.5 percent, said the study, which was released Tuesday.

The districts spent about 60 percent of their budgets on areas related to classroom instruction - teacher salaries, teaching aides, textbooks, paper and chalk - said Bruce S. Cooper, a Fordham University professor who conducted the study.

The rest went for administrative salaries and benefits, building upkeep and such student services as nurses and psychologists.

The national average is about 61.1 percent, Cooper said.

The center's study method is designed to give districts a better idea of where their money is going, Cooper said.

But taxpayers who want to see more money spent on teaching shouldn't assume other expenditures are less important, said Gary Marx, director of the American Association of School Administrators.

"The school building is the learning environment, and unless the building functions appropriately, teaching is less effective," he said. "Running a school system requires having food service programs, a transportation system and operating a physical plant. All of that is necessary for good education to take place in the class-room."

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The center spent 20 months looking at schools in Alameda, Calif.; Bartlesville, Okla.; Cambridge, Mass.; Charlotte, N.C.; Great Falls, Mont.; Jefferson County, Colo.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Spartanburg County, S.C., with a $167,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. foundation.

Cooper said school districts typically lump expenditures into general areas. But the center's method allows for more detailed information such as how much money goes into instruction, he said.

"I don't think anything startling was revealed for those of us who work closely with the schools, but the approach was interesting," Lewis Finch, superintendent of Jef-fer-son County schools.

"It did confirm the fact that this school district, and I suspect many others, operate with very low over-head."

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