Is there another half of the education realm that the naked eye can't see?

A new report from the Fordham Institute suggets so, and seeks to raise awareness for the "hidden half" of education personnel who aren't teachers, according to The Daily Caller. From 1970 to 2010, the number of non-teaching staff in American public schools increased by 130%, outpacing the growth in teachers. Who are these individuals?

These personnel inlcude everybody from custodians to librarians to bus drivers and counselors, the article said, and spending on non-teaching staff is over 26% of school expenditures in the U.S.. The largest and fastest growing group are teacher aides, individuals who work one-to-one with special education students or assist in classrooms. In 1970, less than 2% of all school staff were teacher aides; today, nearly 12% are. 

“If you look at just suburbs, very average pairs of suburbs, you could see a huge variation in the number of non-teaching personnel or number of aides, even with the same number of special ed kids,” said Matt Richmond, research analyst who authored the report. He also mentioned that some wealthier districs have parents who wish for more personnel hiring, and low income districts push to keep personnel levels lower. Richmond said while the report said non-teaching staff has risen, more research is needed to determine what is driving the ongoing growth. 

With non-teacher staff taking up a quarter of school expenditures, he said, it's time for education reformers to stop overlooking them when investigating ways to improve schools.

Read the full story. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor