Since the year 2000, Missouri public school districts and charter schools have added teachers and administrators at rates that outpaced student enrollment. This growth coincided with a decline in average inflation-adjusted teacher salaries. A new Show-Me Institute report contends that this “Personnel Boom” occurred as a result of shifting perceptions about the needs of students and the expansion of regulatory responsibilities. The report also suggests that teacher salaries could be over $10,000 higher if staffing levels had remained at year-2000 levels. While the report is grounded in strong descriptive evidence of staffing and salary trends, it offers less convincing evidence of why staffing increased. The indicators used in the report to assess student need provide only a partial picture of the challenges schools face. Additionally, changes in federal educational policy and service delivery, including expanded inclusion efforts and intervention models such as multi-tiered systems of supports may, for example, have increased demand for additional instructional personnel even in the absence of large changes in underlying student need. Overall, while the report points out budgetary tradeoffs of different instructional and administrative staffing levels, it is a less useful guide for determining the appropriate number of teachers and administrators Missouri school districts should employ or their appropriate allocation.

Suggested Citation: Redding, C. (2026). NEPC Review: Missouri’s 21st century public school personnel boom. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date], from https://nepc.colorado.edu/review/personnel