The same scene can be seen in practically every school district office on a Monday morning: phones ringing, schedules being rearranged before the first bell, administrators rushing to cover teacher absences. The majority of people outside of education are unaware of this commonplace crisis, which occurs thousands of times every week. However, Kelly Education has centered its entire mission around that exact issue.
The business has worked exclusively in the field of education staffing for more than 25 years. Although this field may seem simple, it is actually fraught with difficulties. Each state has its own regulations for certification. Each district has a unique culture. Furthermore, there has never been a larger pool of competent individuals ready to enter a classroom at short notice. Kelly Education doesn’t act as though these issues are easy. However, it appears to have figured out how to deal with them on a large scale, as it currently supports more than 10,000 schools nationwide.
Kelly Education’s emphasis on the entire education continuum—not just substitute teachers but also paraeducators, school nurses, therapists, food service employees, and administrative staff—sets it apart from a general staffing company. The company seems to have realized early on what most outsiders still fail to see: maintaining schools requires much more than a warm body in a classroom. A qualified paraeducator who is aware of the unique needs of a student enrolled in an Individualized Education Program is necessary. A district that is having trouble with speech delays needs more than just a list of resumes—it needs qualified therapists. That more comprehensive picture served as the foundation for Kelly Education’s model.
The numbers indicate that the strategy is effective. After working with Kelly Education, a Florida school district reportedly saw a 42 percentage point increase in substitute teacher fill rates. If you’ve ever sat in a school office and watched the morning coverage fall apart, this figure sounds almost unbelievable. It’s possible that the outcomes differ from district to district and that staffing is insufficient to address more serious problems in education. However, trustworthy coverage in the classroom is a starting point. It’s the only thing that keeps things together.
Special education is one of Kelly Education’s more subdued areas of work. It is truly difficult to find paraeducators, the front-line staff who assist students with disabilities. The emotional burden is real, the training requirements can differ greatly, and the pay is typically modest. Kelly Education asserts that it manages hiring and training for these positions, which is more significant than it may seem. Every time a familiar face leaves a student’s routine, there are serious repercussions. Paraeducator turnover is a recurring issue in districts all over the nation.
It’s difficult to ignore Kelly Education’s expansion into leadership placement through Greenwood Asher & Associates, its executive search subsidiary. Superintendent searches and cabinet-level hires are different from substitute placement, but they show that the company views itself as something more than a temporary service. It is still worthwhile to see if that larger goal results in improved outcomes for the districts it serves.
Kelly Education’s work has a certain unglamorous dignity. The logistics of substitute teachers are not making headlines. However, millions of students’ experiences are subtly shaped by those logistics each year. In a grand philosophical sense, the company is not altering education. It addresses a more pressing issue that occurs in actual schools with actual students waiting in actual classrooms. And that’s precisely what many districts require.
