These staffing trends reflect the change in INDEX averages from 2020–21 to 2025–26.
Support Staff Is Growing Faster Than Teaching Staff
Teacher staffing increased modestly across INDEX schools (+3%), while Instructional Support staffing increased +10% (0.8 FTE) and Remedial/Learning Support staffing increased +27% (1.1 FTE).
Why this matters: Schools appear to be investing more heavily in the personnel that support student learning, intervention, and academic accommodations, rather than significantly expanding the core classroom faculty.
Administrative Staffing Continues to Expand
Administrators increased +9.4%, while Other Administrative Staff increased +21.2%, representing the largest absolute staffing increase in the dataset (+5.8 FTEs).
Why this matters: INDEX schools continue to face growing operational complexity in areas such as enrollment management, communications, advancement, finance, and student support. These functions increasingly require specialized personnel.
Total Staffing Has Increased Meaningfully
Average staffing increased +9.1% across INDEX schools, from 209 employees per school to 228 employees per school.
Why this matters: Even modest staffing additions across many departments can meaningfully increase long-term personnel costs and organizational complexity, raising important questions about financial sustainability if enrollment and revenue growth begin to slow.