Tomorrow evening USD 259, the Wichita public school district, is holding two meetings seeking input from the public on budget matters.
Perhaps someone will ask a few questions about why spending has been increasing so fast. The trend in the number of students for each employee would be a good question. The chart below shows the trend for the number of students (full-time equivalent) for each certified employee.
Over a period of 12 school years, the number of students per employee has declined from 13.7 to 10.9. In percentage terms, that’s 20.4%. This increasing number of employees, both absolute and in terms of the number of employees per student, is expensive.
The employee count used in these calculations is “certified employees.” (For a look at all employees, click on Wichita school employee-student ratio drops.) For the 2008 to 2009 school year, here are the figures, from the Kansas State Department of Education:
| Superintendent | 1.0 |
| Assoc.Asst. Superintendents | 5.0 |
| Administrative Assistants | 0.0 |
| Principals | 85.0 |
| Assistant Principals | 74.6 |
| Directors/Supervisors Spec. Ed. | 17.0 |
| Directors/Supervisors of Health | 0.0 |
| Directors/Supervisors of Voc. Ed. | 0.0 |
| Instructional Coordinators/Supervisors | 14.0 |
| All Other Directors/Supervisors | 29.0 |
| Other Curriculum Specialists | 0.0 |
| Practical Arts/Vocational Teachers | 133.0 |
| Special Ed. Teachers | 529.7 |
| Prekindergarten Teachers | 46.0 |
| Kindergarten Teachers | 200.0 |
| All Other Teachers | 2,564.3 |
| Library Media Specialists | 71.1 |
| School Counselors | 108.9 |
| Clinical or School Psychologists | 58.5 |
| Nurses | 79.2 |
| Speech Pathologists | 66.9 |
| Audiologists | 0.0 |
| School Social Work Services | 96.2 |
| Reading Specialists/Teachers | 50.4 |
| Others | 0.0 |
| Total | 4,229.8 |