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Editorial: Paraeducators need, want training

Tue., Oct. 27, 2015

Spokane Public Schools officials are not yet going door-to-door, but the district is so short of instructional assistants that some principal newsletters are encouraging parents to consider classroom careers.

The assistants, or IAs, tutor students with learning disabilities, from simple communication or behavioral problems to profound autism. The IAs, also called paraeducators, may be the only instructor some students work with during their typical school day.

The IAs fill an important niche in K-12 education. Consider: There are 62,000 K-12 teachers in Washington and 25,000 IAs.

Many work with students for whom English is a second language. In fact, IAs provide more than one-half the hours funded by the federal English Language Learners program.

The IAs liken their roles in K-12 education to those fulfilled by paralegals and paramedics. But unlike those professionals, training is minimal, and it’s up to individual districts to decide how high they set the bar to get the assistants they need.

Teachers prepare lesson plans; it’s up to the IAs to apply them – sometimes one-on-one, sometimes in small groups. Yet, in many districts, IAs enter the classroom with a minimal training. Some simply evolve into the role after volunteering to help with clerical tasks.

First-in-the-nation legislation that would have set IA education standards was passed by both houses of the Washington Legislature this year. But SB 5179 died when the House and Senate versions could not be reconciled.

There was disagreement over who would pay for the training — individuals, district or state — and how the state would contend with demands for higher pay from better trained IAs when the state Supreme Court has ruled it has not fulfilled existing education mandates.

Spokane Public Schools standards already meet proposed state requirements. But officials say recruitment and retention was poor because pay was too low.

That problem was addressed in the new teachers contract. A combination of longer school days and a boost in pay added up to about a 9.5 percent pay increase.

But the district, with 349 IAs already, remains 36 short of the desired complement, hence the letters soliciting interest from parents who have a rapport with kids that can be developed into IA-level skills.

In time, they might be able to advance as substitute teachers, then full-time teachers. SB 5179 would have provided a career path for motivated assistants.

Given the overwhelming majorities the House and Senate bills garnered, the Legislature should be able to find a compromise that addresses everybody’s concerns.

Demands for smaller classrooms will increase the pressure to bring new teaching resources into schools. IAs should be part of the mix, but only if they have been trained to teach.