There are often teacher shortages, but schools also can't find enough bus drivers, paraprofessionals, secretaries, or cafeteria workers. When those roles go unfilled, the disruption can impact everyone, including the teachers and students the headlines are actually about.
- The education staffing crisis extends far beyond the classroom. Administrative staff employment remains 3% below 2019 levels, custodians are down 12.4%, and food service workers are down 4.3%. Support staff make up roughly one-third of the public education workforce, and when their positions go vacant, teachers and administrators absorb the overflow.
- Budget pressure is making a bad situation worse. With ESSER funds expired and federal funding cuts creating new fiscal strain, districts are being asked to do more with fewer people and fewer dollars.
- Skills assessments help schools hire the right support staff faster. For high-turnover administrative and clerical roles, testing for digital literacy, data entry accuracy, and interpersonal skills at the point of hire reduces the revolving door and protects the instructional time these roles exist to support.
The teacher shortage gets the headlines. The Learning Policy Institute estimates that roughly one in eight teaching positions nationwide is either vacant or filled by someone not fully certified for the role. That's a serious problem, and it deserves every ounce of attention it’s getting.
But there's also a parallel staffing crisis in schools that gets far less coverage, and it can actually make the teacher shortage worse.
An EdWeek survey cited by the Department of Education found that school leaders struggled to hire substitute teachers (77%), bus drivers (68%), paraprofessionals (55%), cafeteria workers (42%), and custodians (41%).
When a school secretary position sits empty, teachers answer phones. When a paraprofessional quits, classroom ratios spike. And when a custodian leaves and isn't replaced, maintenance requests pile up and the building deteriorates.
These roles make up the operational infrastructure that allows teachers to teach and students to learn.
School support staff shortages by the numbers
The Economic Policy Institute's analysis of federal survey data paints a clear picture of where the gaps are. Compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, as of August 2025:
- Custodian positions are down 12.4%
- Teachers are down 4.3%
- Food service workers are down 4.3%`
- Administrative staff are down 3.0%
- Bus drivers remain 9.5% below pre-pandemic levels
While the overall K-12 education workforce is up 1.4% from 2019, that recovery has been uneven and largely fueled by pandemic relief funds that have now expired. ESSER funding, which allocated $276 billion to public K-12 schools, allowed districts to retain staff and expand roles. Now, some districts are needing to make cuts and support staff are often first on the chopping block.
Pay is a central driver behind staff shortages. The NEA's 2026 Education Support Professional Earnings Report found that full-time K-12 ESPs earn an average of $36,360 per year. Adjusted for inflation, ESP earnings have actually declined since 2015-2016.
The NEA noted that even in the cheapest metro area in the country (Brownsville, Texas, for those wondering), a single parent with one child would need $58,544 for a modest standard of living, so the average ESP salary doesn't come close.
Why admin and clerical roles matter more than people think
NCES School Pulse Panel data found that 43% of public schools with teaching vacancies reported using non-teaching staff outside their intended duties. That’s certainly less than ideal, but it gets worse: when non-teaching staff positions go unfilled, 42% of schools reported pulling teachers away from instruction to cover operational gaps.
The school secretary who manages attendance, answers parent calls, handles enrollment paperwork, and keeps the front office running isn't doing "admin work" in the way a corporate office might frame it. That person is the hub of the school's daily operations.
Same for the registrar processing transcripts, the bookkeeper managing purchase orders, or the clerk handling student records and compliance documentation.
When any of these roles sit empty, the work still needs to be done and it often lands on teachers and principals who are already stretched thin, pulling them away from students. And unfortunately, education staff shortages are likely to just get worse.
Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce projects a shortage of 678,600 financial and administrative professionals (accountants, auditors, bookkeeping clerks, payroll clerks) across industries by 2032.
For educational organizations, that means this is something you need to think about now. Schools are all competing for the same talent pool with each other and potentially even non-education opportunities that may have higher pay. This means you not only need to be able to offer competitive deals to attract top talent, but to be able to identify the candidates worth investing in.
What to test for when hiring school support staff
Given the combination of high turnover, tight budgets, and the operational stakes of getting these hires wrong, skills assessments for education support roles make particular sense. A 15-to-20-minute test at the point of application gives you objective data before you invest interview time.
Here's what matters most for administrative and clerical roles in schools:
Digital literacy and office software proficiency
School office staff work in student information systems, scheduling platforms, email, and spreadsheets all day. Testing for Microsoft Office skills (especially Excel and Outlook), basic data management, and the ability to navigate multiple applications simultaneously separates candidates who can hit the ground running from those who'll need extensive hand-holding.
Data entry accuracy and attention to detail
Student records, attendance data, enrollment forms, and compliance documentation all require precision. Errors in student data aren't just inconvenient. They can affect funding, reporting, and legal compliance. An administrative assistant assessment that includes data entry accuracy questions catches this before it becomes a problem.
Interpersonal and communication skills
School office staff interact with parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members every day, often in emotionally charged situations. A parent calling about a disciplinary issue, a student who's upset, a teacher who needs something urgently. Testing for interpersonal skills in a school setting helps identify candidates who can handle that range with professionalism and empathy.
Basic math and bookkeeping
For roles that touch purchasing, petty cash, fee collection, or budget tracking, foundational numerical skills matter. This is especially true for district-level positions where financial management is becoming a critical shortage area.
Typing speed and form-fill accuracy
For front desk and clerical roles where the phone never stops ringing and the line at the window never ends, the ability to type quickly and accurately isn't a luxury. It's how the day gets done.
Protecting instructional time starts with support staff hiring
Every unfilled support staff role is a tax on someone else's time, and it’s usually a teacher's, a principal’s, or a combination of the two.
Districts can't always control the budget, and they can't always compete on salary. But they can control how efficiently they identify the right candidates for the roles they're able to fill. A skills-based hiring process that tests for the actual competencies these roles demand reduces early turnover, shortens onboarding, and keeps the operational backbone of the school intact so educators can focus on what they were hired to do.
Want to find top talent for your school? See how eSkill helps schools and districts hire better support staff
