u/dadamatics

I'll set aside whether it's a good metric or biased but I want to highlight something that I think is important. If the district is going to goal on this, they should goal on 5th grade and 8th. If the only goal is at 6th grade math, nobody will own the results. The middle schools will say the foundations are not there, they came to us without hitting the standards and there is only so much we can recover in a year. The elementary schools will continue to not be held responsible. If we have one at the end of the elementary and end of middle school, you will have a much clear picture of how each school is growing their students.

Long time reader, first time poster. Going through these plots https://www.sps-by-the-numbers.com/finance/staffing. I have some observations, questions.

Aides: the most dramatic sustained increase? From 796 in 2019 up to 1,012 in 2025, a gain of about 216 FTE (~27%). This is by far the largest absolute increase of any category as far as I can tell.

Social Workers: the most striking proportional growth. From just 5 FTE in 2019 to 47 in 2025. Looks like a 10x increase, though from a very small base.

Occupational Therapists: grew from 38 in 2019 to 48 in 2025, about a 26% increase, though in terms of budget just 10 FTE so likely not as important.

Professionals: Consistent growth from 172 in 2019 to 217 in 2025 (~26%). I am not sure what this category includes.

Here's what's surprising, while support roles grew, teaching category seems to be going the other direction. Elementary Homeroom teachers dropped sharply from ~1,400 in 2020 to 1,086 in 2025.

I hear the SI is talking about cutting down the central office. Where does that show up in these charts?

Is there a plan to reverse the decline in teaching staff?