The Student Success Act: Recognizing the Importance of Paraprofessionals

At the end of last month, Congressman Jose Serrano introduced an amendment to restore qualification requirements for paraprofessionals in the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The Student Success Act seeks to reauthorize the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) since 2002. His amendment passed thanks to bipartisan support and the Congressman’s skills as a legislator and commitment to education.

As an educator for over 40 years who worked as a teacher, supervisor, and administrator I saw first hand the importance of skilled and professional paraprofessionals in all classroom and educational settings. There are also special education teacher paraprofessionals who work with those students that require special help. They were trained to provide the very special attention based on the students need.

As an administrator for the Attendance Improvement Development Program (AIDP) paraprofessionals went out into the field to visit with students and to assist them so that students in specific areas can be served. When I moved on to being an administrator for the Committee on Preschool Special Education, paraprofessionals were often mandated to work with the students in the programs which were tailored for their needs. Congressman Serrano, as a former paraprofessional himself, knows that this legislation will ensure that federal employment standards for paraprofessionals in public schools will be strong and will provide the best services for students.

In a press release, Congressman Serrano expressed his experience on being a paraprofessional himself:

“This is great news for our children and I applaud Republicans for supporting this common sense measure. As a former paraprofessional, I saw firsthand the impact professionals like myself made in classrooms, especially in under-served communities. Paraprofessionals are essential to ensuring that students in low-income public school districts receive a high-quality education. This amendment will help ensure our schools can only hire professionals who are adequately prepared to assist in the classroom by setting national standards to require them to have a formal education and adequate professional training prior to hiring. All our children deserve the opportunity to get an excellent education. This amendment will help guarantee that paraprofessionals have the skills they need to successfully support and enhance a children’s learning experience in the classroom.”

These pictures from the 1980s were taken when I was the coordinator for the Bronx AIDP Program and some of the students were given assignments at Jacobi Medical Center.  They show paraprofessionals at work with students and how invaluable they were to the program.