Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Review Finds Key Omissions in School Staffing Report

  • 07/05/17

East Lansing, Mich. — A recent report from EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, concluded that non-teaching staffing growth in schools after the Great Recession has outpaced enrollment growth and student performance. The report recommended increasing teacher pay, at the expense of non-teaching staff, and more school choice. An academic review released today finds that the report presents no logical relationship between the staffing trends presented and the solutions proposed in the report.

The report, Back to the Staffing Surge: The Great Teacher Salary Stagnation and the Decades-Long Employment Growth in American Schools, was reviewed for the Think Twice think tank project by Joydeep Roy, Columbia University, and William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder. Think Twice, a project of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), is funded by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.

Roy and Mathis in their review note that while the report does use data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “the report’s discussion of inputs, outcomes, and policy approaches is poorly grounded, leading to unsupported conclusions and policy prescriptions.” The reviewers identify that the primary shortcoming of the report is its failure to examine why there has been a staffing surge and whether it reflects a valid use of personnel.

In their conclusion, they also find that there is no linkage between the report’s call for more school choice and vouchers to remedy “over-staffing” or better education. In response, the reviewers provide an appendix list of recent evidence on voucher and charter school performance.

Find the review on the GLC website: www.greatlakescenter.org

Find the EdChoice report at: www.edchoice.org/research/back-staffing-surge/

Featured

  • Indiana Wesleyan University Schedules Grand Opening for New Welcome Center

    Indiana Wesleyan University recently announced that it will soon open a new Welcome Center on its campus in Marion, Ind., according to a news release. The facility will serve as the home base for prospective students and their families to learn more about the university and student life there. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for February 19.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.