Kentucky’s school-staffing trends: Only five states have worse share of teachers in K-12

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think tank, today released “Staffing Trends in Kentucky’s Public Schools,” the second in a three-part series of weekly policy briefs examining public education spending in Kentucky.

Written by economists Paul Coomes, Ph.D., and John Garen, Ph.D., the report highlights a surge in non-teacher staffing that’s most pronounced at the district level and a funding increase that continued after staffing levels plateaued.

Key findings include:

Total school staffing in Kentucky’s K-12 education system grew 39% from 1990 to 2024, with non-teaching staff rising 57% compared to a 21% increase in teachers.
District-level staff increased 62% since 1993, far outpacing the 15% growth in school-level teachers, while student attendance dropped nearly 3%.
Despite a 10% decline in average daily attendance since 2013, per-pupil funding has soared an inflation-adjusted136% since 1990, increasing from $8,400 to $19,700, and has continued to rise even after non-teacher staffing plateaued in 2013.

“Today’s release reveals a disconcerting increase in K-12 personnel who are not teachers, and in many cases aren’t even working in schools,” said Bluegrass Institute President Jim Waters. “Instead, they’re working in administration at district offices.”

The research also reveals that only five states have worse teaching-to-nonteaching ratios than Kentucky. Six of Kentucky’s seven neighboring states have a higher share of staff who are teachers.

For example, 55% of all public school staff in Missouri are teachers in the classroom – fifth-best in the nation – compared to only 43.5% in Kentucky.

“Each of those neighboring states with better teacher-to-nonteaching ratios also offers their parents options when it comes to educating their children,” Waters noted. “Could it be that offering parents educational alternatives is a factor in taxpayers reaping the benefit of more prudent use of public dollars?”

Click here for last week’s report on Kentucky public teachers’ compensation.

For more information, contact Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, at (270) 320-4376 or jwaters@freedomkentucky.com.

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