DPS Payroll Leak Shatters Denver Schools Claims.
The bureaucracy Michael Bennet built.
Michael Bennet was DPS Superintendent from 2005 to 2009. He championed a reform model that centralized decision-making and expanded the district's analytical capacity. By 2019, the administrative apparatus had grown to $50 million in annual overhead — while teachers were about to go on strike over pay.
In January 2019, a leaked payroll database from Denver Public Schools made its way to North Denver News, revealing the full scope of the district's central office spending. The data covered every position in the central administration. When the numbers were tallied, they painted a picture of a bureaucracy that had expanded dramatically under the reform model Bennet launched.
The Budget Breakdown
Central Office Spending
The Cabinet
DPS maintained 46 cabinet-level positions. For perspective: the Governor of Colorado's cabinet has roughly 24 members. A single school district had nearly twice the executive leadership of the entire state government. These 46 positions consumed $6 million in salaries — an average of over $130,000 each — for administrators with no direct student contact.
The PR Machine
DPS employed 11 full-time public relations and communications staff with a combined budget of $2 million. The district was spending more on managing its image than many small Colorado districts spend educating students. This was the same district that told teachers it couldn't afford to raise their base salaries. The contrast between the communications budget and the compensation crisis fueled the teacher strike that would follow weeks later.
The Analyst Army
The single largest non-cabinet expense was $7 million for analysts and data staff. Data-driven decision-making was a cornerstone of Bennet's reform agenda. But by 2019, the analytical infrastructure had grown far beyond what was needed to inform instructional decisions. The analyst budget alone exceeded the entire operating budget of many small Colorado school districts. The question was not whether data matters — it was whether $7 million in data staff was serving students or serving the bureaucracy.
The Bennet Connection
Bennet was superintendent from 2005 to 2009. The administrative infrastructure visible in the 2019 payroll data did not appear overnight. It was built over a decade, beginning with the reform model Bennet championed: centralize decision-making, expand data capacity, grow the communications apparatus, and add cabinet-level positions to manage the expanding bureaucracy.
Bennet's supporters argue that subsequent superintendents share responsibility for the growth. That is true. But the architecture — the reform model itself, with its appetite for centralized control and analytical overhead — was Bennet's. He designed the system. Others just kept feeding it.
By 2019, with Bennet in the US Senate and exploring a presidential run, the payroll data became a lens through which voters could evaluate whether the reform model he championed had delivered on its promises or had created an administrative class that consumed resources meant for classrooms.
The Strike Context
The payroll leak came at the worst possible moment for the district. Denver teachers were weeks away from their first strike in 25 years. The core issue was ProComp — the performance-based pay system Bennet had implemented as superintendent, which relied on bonuses rather than base salary increases. 79% of Denver voters said teacher pay was too low. 82% supported teachers over the district. The juxtaposition of $50 million in administrative overhead against claims that the district couldn't afford meaningful teacher raises was devastating.
Key Findings
When a school district spends $50 million on administrators with no student contact while telling teachers it can't afford to raise their salaries, the payroll data tells you everything you need to know about the district's priorities. Michael Bennet designed this system. Now he's running for governor on the strength of his education record.
Originally reported by North Denver News based on leaked payroll data from Denver Public Schools.
