Kelly Ed

What Kelly Ed does

Kelly Education is a division of Kelly Services Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA), a Fortune 500 global staffing company founded in 1946. Kelly Education operates as the nation's largest provider of K-12 education staffing, serving more than 1,000 school districts and over 10,000 schools across the United States. The company supplies substitute teachers, paraeducators, school therapists, support staff, early childhood educators, and executive-level education leaders through a managed service provider (MSP) model. It has operated in the education vertical for over 25 years and is positioned as the only staffing provider covering all levels of the K-12 system, from substitute teachers to school nurses.

The company's platform combines recruiting, screening and accreditation, orientation, training, payroll and benefits administration, absence management, scheduling, and reporting/insights into a single vendor relationship for school districts. Proprietary components include the Kelly Education Learning Pathways™ professional development program, the Absence Management System, the Managed Paraeducator Program, the Reporting & Insights analytics dashboard, and the myKelly employee self-service portal. Distribution is entirely direct-to-district through enterprise field sales, with engagement supported by case studies, the Wake Up & Teach industry podcast, webinars, and content marketing. Pricing is quote-based and negotiated through multi-year MSP contracts, with no publicly disclosed standardized rates.

Revenue is generated through staffing fees, payroll-billed services, and managed service arrangements with districts. As a division of a publicly traded parent, Kelly Education's financial performance is reported within Kelly Services Inc.'s consolidated results rather than as a standalone segment. The company competes in the U.S. K-12 education staffing market, which is structurally undersupplied due to ongoing teacher and paraeducator shortages, and positions its scale, brand recognition, and end-to-end workforce lifecycle management as its primary differentiators.

Name

Kelly Ed

Legal name

Kelly Services Inc.

Website

https://kellyeducationalstaffing.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kelly Education is the U.S. nation's largest K-12 education staffing provider, serving 1,000+ school districts and 10,000+ schools. It operates as a managed service provider supplying substitute teachers, paraeducators, therapists, and support staff with end-to-end workforce management.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Education Staffing and Workforce Management

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Instructional Coaching & Teacher Professional Learning (School-Embedded) (EDAJAFAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Teacher Professional Development & In-Service Training Institutes (EDAHAFAM)

Keywords

• K-12 education staffing
• Substitute teacher services
• School workforce management
• Paraeducator staffing
• Education HR administration

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Education Staffing Services: Kelly Education provides staffing services to K-12 school districts, supplying substitute teachers, paraeducators, therapists, and support staff. Revenue is generated through staffing fees, managed service arrangements, and payroll administration services. The model operates as a managed services provider (MSP) handling recruiting, screening, placement, and ongoing workforce management for districts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kelly Education is a managed services provider that recruits, screens, places, and manages K-12 education workforce personnel — including substitute teachers, paraeducators, special education staff, therapists, support staff, early childhood educators, tutors, and education executives — for school districts across the United States. The company handles the full workforce management lifecycle (recruiting, credentialing, orientation, training, payroll, benefits, scheduling, compliance, and retention) under multi-year contracts with districts, supported by proprietary absence management, scheduling, reporting, and learning platforms.

Product overview

Kelly Education is a comprehensive K-12 education staffing and workforce management platform operating as a single unified service with multiple integrated modules. The platform provides end-to-end workforce solutions comprising recruiting and hiring services (attracting talent, screening and accreditation, orientation and training, and the Kelly Education Learning Pathways program), employee retention solutions (benefits, rewards and recognition, professional development, and talent care), and workforce management tools (absence management, scheduling, reporting and insights, and the Managed Paraeducator Program). Supporting service roles include substitute teaching, support staff, special education, early childhood education, therapy services, tutoring, and executive search. The platform also includes HR administration services for payroll, benefits, compliance, and performance management. The company operates under the Kelly Services Inc. parent organization, serving over 10,000 schools across multiple countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kelly Education Learning Pathways™: Learning and development program for education workforce including orientation, training, and professional development pathways.

Products and services

• Substitute Teaching Staffing Staffing service connecting K-12 schools with qualified substitute teachers to maintain continuous instruction and cover teacher absences; for school districts and individual substitute teaching professionals seeking flexible education job opportunities.
• Support Staff Placement Placement services for non-instructional school support personnel, including administrative, facilities, food service, and other school operations positions across K-12 districts.
• Special Education Staffing Specialized staffing for special education teachers and paraeducators supporting K-12 students with Individual Education Programs (IEPs) and special needs.
• Early Childhood Education Staffing Staffing solutions for early childhood education positions within K-12 systems, including pre-kindergarten and early elementary programs.
• Therapy Services Staffing Provision of occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, and behavioral/mental health professionals in K-12 schools to support student services.
• Tutoring Services Academic tutoring services provided in K-12 schools to support student learning outcomes.
• Education Executive Search Recruitment and placement services for K-12 education leadership and administrative positions, including principals, superintendents, and district-level leaders.
• Recruiting and Hiring Services End-to-end recruitment services for school districts covering talent attraction, screening and accreditation, orientation and training, and onboarding of K-12 education workforce.
• Employee Retention Services Retention programs for placed K-12 education workforce, including employee benefits, rewards and recognition, professional development, and dedicated Talent Care team support.
• Workforce Management Services Management solutions for K-12 districts covering absence management, substitute scheduling, reporting and insights, and operation of the Managed Paraeducator Program.
• HR Administration Services Administrative services for K-12 districts, including payroll and benefits administration, wage and tax compliance, and performance management for placed education workforce.
• Managed Paraeducator Program Specialized program for recruiting, screening, credentialing, placing, and retaining paraprofessionals who support K-12 students with special needs and IEPs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 42 percentage point substitute teacher fill rate lift achieved by Osceola County, Florida district
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Soliant Health: Soliant Health is a leading US staffing firm focused on K-12 therapy and healthcare personnel, including speech, occupational, and physical therapists; it directly overlaps with Kelly Education's Therapy Services vertical and competes for the same school district therapy staffing contracts.
• Swing Education: Swing Education is a tech-enabled K-12 substitute teacher staffing platform serving US school districts; it directly competes with Kelly Education on substitute teacher placement, fill-rate improvement, and digital UX, representing the leading digital-first challenger in Kelly's core market.
• ESS (Educational Staffing Solutions): ESS is a long-standing K-12 substitute teacher and support staffing provider serving school districts nationwide; it competes head-to-head with Kelly Education on substitute teacher fill, paraeducator placement, and managed staffing contracts in the same public school segment.

Others

• Sourcewell (Cooperative Purchasing): Sourcewell is a government cooperative purchasing organization that runs pre-bid staffing contracts used by many school districts; while not a direct competitor, it shapes the procurement channel through which Kelly Education and its peers win district business.
• PowerSchool: PowerSchool is a leading K-12 SIS and operations platform that integrates with substitute management and HR workflows; it is an ecosystem partner/enabler rather than a direct staffing competitor, but its substitute management tooling overlaps functionally with Kelly's Absence Management product.

Broad incumbents

• ManpowerGroup: ManpowerGroup is a Fortune 500 global staffing provider with education and public sector service lines; it competes with Kelly Education for large district outsourcing contracts and brings comparable scale and managed-services capabilities to the education staffing market.
• Randstad (Randstad US / Education): Randstad is a global staffing and workforce solutions incumbent that serves US education customers including substitute teachers, support staff, and special education personnel; it competes with Kelly Education at the multi-line managed services level rather than as a pure-play education specialist.
• Adecco (Adecco Education): Adecco is one of the world's largest staffing firms with a dedicated education staffing practice; while broader than Kelly, it competes on substitute and support staffing contracts with large US school districts and brings similar MSP capabilities to the same RFPs.

Emerging players

• Aya Healthcare: Aya Healthcare is a large US healthcare staffing firm with a growing school-based services line for therapists and behavioral health professionals; it competes with Kelly Education's therapy staffing offering and brings tech-enabled matching to the same district customer base.
• Insight Global: Insight Global is a US staffing firm with an expanding education division placing substitutes, paraprofessionals, and special education staff; it competes with Kelly Education in mid-sized and large district RFPs as a fast-growing challenger in K-12 staffing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kelly-ed

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kelly Ed