The following statement was delivered May 17, 2010, before the South Orange/Maplewood School Board by Betsy Fox, Kathleen Robinson and Margaret Campbell, representing the paraprofessionals of the school district. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you tonight. We're here, representing the paraprofessionals of our school district, not to talk about our jobs that have been outsourced, but rather to speak with you about our children. We understand the financial plight our school district is in, and while we are hugely disappointed that no other options were explored to save our jobs, we are resigned to the fact that despite what parents have been told, the great majority of us will not be returning to our kids next year.

Yes, OUR kids—all of them. Those who have special needs and those who do not.  Please let us clear up the gross misconception that paraprofessionals are needed only for the special needs population. Yes, they are our main focus, but realize that we are a stabilizing force for the entire classroom, some with up to eight children with IEP's [individual educational plans] or 504's. If one student is disruptive, learning for all students is disrupted. In the lunchroom and on the playground we are among the watchful eyes keeping all children safe from any physical and emotional outburst. It may not be written into our job description, but the reality is that we are here to help ensure that all children get the education they deserve in this district.

Since it was announced that our jobs have been outsourced, it has been made crystal clear that while we know the personalities, likes and dislikes, triggers and joys of our kids so very well, you in the district know very little about us, who we are and what we actually do. You know us by our job description on paper, but our jobs go far beyond that because each para/child situation is different. Some of us are assigned to children who have physical handicaps that require assistance to maneuver through a typical school day. Some shadow children who have potentially incapacitating emotional needs that we must untangle and manage so that they can learn.

Throughout the day we deal with a multitude of challenging behaviors from autism to oppositional defiance to ADHD...the list goes on. Ours is a job that demands intelligence, compassion, flexibility, creativity and patience. 

Yes, lots of patience, because as a para, there is no typical day because our kids don't do typical! On any given day our role shifts regularly from shadow to friend to instructional aide, to playmate to playground monitor to lunch date to disciplinarian. We find ways to keep our kids focused, to control their physical, emotional and verbal outbursts.

We work with curriculum modifications, re-teaching skills and lessons that students need re-enforced.

We work with the speech, occupational and physical therapists to continue their therapies inside the classroom.

We record changes in behavior, reactions to medication and any other insights we can give the teachers and child study teams. 

We teach our kids their confidential, personal information like their address and phone numbers, as well as life skills such as how to tell time, tie a shoe, play with friends, respect themselves and others. 

We delight in their triumphs, no matter how small they may seem to others who don't really know them, and we are there when their emotions overcome them and they lash out. Paraprofessionals are an unlimited source of positive re-enforcement for all of the children in the class. 

Sounds a bit like parenting, doesn't it? And yes, nurturing is a huge part of our jobs, particularly on the elementary school level, but don't be mislead by our titles: para professional. Yes, we do work along side the teachers, but the majority of us are the embodiment of the word professional. 

Until now, our school district could boast of having one of the most highly educated paraprofessional forces in the county. Most of us hold Bachelor Degrees, a few have Masters. As a group, we far exceed the educational requirement of 60 college credits. We are adjunct college professors, retired teachers, currently certified teachers, former business executives, and published authors. We have earned additional professional development credits through various educational workshops. Those of us working exclusively with autistic children have years of experience in Applied Behavioral Analysis, something which cannot be taught in a two-hour workshop. Many of us are certified in CPR and Crisis Intervention. Others are trained in special modified curriculums like TouchMath and Explode the Code. One of us even reads Braille, and another is learning American Sign Language in order to more effectively teach a child with severe language deficiencies.

We bring to our jobs a wealth of academic, professional and educational experience—experience we share with all our kids.

We are professionals, but we're also your neighbors. We share your values and your goals for our children. Many, if not most of the paras in our district have roots in the area, and many live here. Many of our children have grown up in this town and attend our schools.  The current paras have a vested interest in growing strong, capable South Orange/Maplewood citizens who will continue to love and nurture our community as we do.  We are family. That's why we consider your kids our kids.

Next year, we will not be the watchful eyes and open arms for our children. We implore the district, and most importantly, the parents of all South Orange/Maplewood students to hold these new paraprofessionals to the high standards that we have established. 

With our employment no longer the concern of the Board of Education, we urge you to find out who at the Essex County Educational Services Commission will be your liaison and who will be held accountable for the continuing needs of our kids. We are sure that the Commission will find some lovely people to fill our positions, but those of us who have done this job exceptionally well, know that working a maximum of 5.5 hours a day, limited to no more than 29 hours a week, with none of the hours guaranteed, no paid lunch, no health benefits, and no real assurance that the same paraprofessional will be working with your child throughout the year, the week or even the day, does not bode well for finding a dedicated, highly qualified and motivated paraprofessional workforce who will love, nurture and help teach our kids. 

We wish, with all our hearts, that we could remain in this role, but we have responsibilities to our families and most of us simply cannot afford to lose our benefits and face an almost 50% cut in pay. So we now must find other jobs where we can use our talents and skill sets and at the same time help provide for our own families. 

We wish you and yours the best of luck. Thank you for your time tonight and for the wonderful opportunity we have had working with your children. Good night.