Eliminating a swath of Minneapolis Public Schools administrative positions is a sensible move that will direct resources where they are needed most — in the schools and classrooms where learning occurs.

This week, interim Superintendent Michael Goar announced that at least 120 full-time equivalent positions would be cut at the headquarters building in north Minneapolis, reducing the 600-person workforce.

While it's a wise budget and staff adjustment, it also begs the question: If the district can do without that many full-time central office employees, how did those jobs contribute to the district's mission and why weren't they re-evaluated earlier?

Goar says the change will "right size'' the district for current needs. The layoffs will allow the district to redirect the $11.6 million spent on pay and benefits to individual schools and classrooms.

The district's proposed $545 million operating budget for 2016 allocates $43 million in new and expanded academic investments for the coming school year, an amount that includes redirecting the $11.6 million from administrative services to schools. Those funds would be invested in district priorities, which include smaller class sizes, improved instruction, reduced special education caseloads, and additional instruction for middle- and high-school students. The funding would also support a "grow your own'' effort to help educational assistants become licensed teachers.

About half of the employees being laid off are licensed former teachers or administrators who can apply for positions at school buildings. District officials expect to hire about 300 teachers for the 2015-2016 school year. The nonlicensed central administration workers who will be laid off also may apply for openings within the schools.

It remains to be seen whether the school-based decisions made about the extra funding will improve learning. But there's certainly reason to be optimistic that it will be better for Minneapolis schoolchildren to have more resources applied directly to their classrooms.