IV
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. RES. 297
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that paraprofessionals
and education support staff should have fair compensation, benefits,
and working conditions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL7, 2025
Mrs. H
AYES(for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. PINGREE, Ms.
S
CHAKOWSKY, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Mr. JOHNSON
of Georgia, Ms. M
CCOLLUM, Ms. CRAIG, and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and Workforce
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
paraprofessionals and education support staff should
have fair compensation, benefits, and working conditions.
Whereas paraprofessionals (also sometimes known as
‘‘paraeducators’’) include education assistants and in-
structional assistants who work in elementary schools,
secondary schools, or public institutions of higher edu-
cation;
Whereas education support staff (also sometimes known as
‘‘classified school employees’’ or ‘‘education support pro-
fessionals’’) include professionals who work in elementary
schools, secondary schools, or public institutions of higher
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education in clerical and administrative services, trans-
portation services, food and nutrition services, custodial
and maintenance services, health and student services,
technical services, and skilled trades;
Whereas more than 3,000,000 paraprofessionals and edu-
cation support staff are the frontline workers who trans-
form schools in the United States from brick and mortar
buildings to places of learning and support for more than
49,000,000 students across the United States;
Whereas, since the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic, school
staff employment has fallen across positions and there
are still 331,000 fewer school staff than before the
COVID–19 pandemic, leaving schools without the nec-
essary staff in almost every position;
Whereas, since the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic, a
shortage of teachers has resulted in some paraprofes-
sionals and education support staff being expected to as-
sume the duties of teachers without commensurate com-
pensation or benefits;
Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff
are undercompensated for their work, and do not receive
a living wage, much less a competitive, family sustaining
living wage;
Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff
are, as a matter of practice, laid off at the end of each
school year and rehired annually, and lack job security;
Whereas, unlike most school employees, many paraprofes-
sionals and education support staff are not full-time em-
ployees because their services, including those of bus
drivers and food service workers, are time delimited;
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Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff
lack access to high-quality, affordable health care because
they are intentionally hired for insufficient hours to re-
ceive health and retirement benefits, or otherwise are
charged exorbitant employee premiums for health insur-
ance;
Whereas, while paraprofessionals and education support staff
are often the most diverse subset of school employees, are
more likely to have grown up in the communities they
serve, and are the trusted school community members for
many students and parents, the voices of paraprofes-
sionals and education support staff are not always valued
in forming school policies;
Whereas paraprofessionals and education support staff often
serve students facing systemic barriers, but are often ex-
cluded from professional growth and development oppor-
tunities;
Whereas, like many school employees, paraprofessionals and
education support staff are too often subject to workplace
violence and other safety hazards, including contaminants
and extreme temperatures;
Whereas paraprofessionals and education support staff de-
serve real solutions that would empower them to—
(1) work in a stable, safe environment;
(2) have multi-year job security;
(3) receive livable and competitive wages, access to
sufficient hours, and fair compensation for their work;
and
(4) have a voice on the job and meaningful input in
school policy;
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Whereas respecting paraprofessionals and education support
staff is essential to creating and maintaining safe and
supportive school environments that are conducive to stu-
dents learning and thriving; and
Whereas Congress seeks to recognize the rights, respect, and
dignity that paraprofessionals and education support
staff deserve as they continue to care for and educate the
next generation: Now, therefore, be it:
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-1
resentatives that— 2
(1) paraprofessionals and education support 3
staff— 4
(A) should be compensated at a rate that 5
is a livable, competitive wage; 6
(B) should have access to high-quality, af-7
fordable health care and health care benefits at 8
a de minimus personal cost; 9
(C) should be considered to be eligible em-10
ployees under the Family and Medical Leave 11
Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 12
(D) should be entitled to 16 weeks of paid 13
family and medical leave; 14
(E) should have paid leave for all planned 15
and unforeseen school closures, including 16
weather-related closures, professional develop-17
ment days, and other short-term closures; 18
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(F) should have access to meaningful and 1
free or affordable professional growth and de-2
velopment opportunities during regular paid 3
working hours that provide a path to career ad-4
vancement; 5
(G) should have sufficient resources and 6
supplies to enable them to do their job effec-7
tively and efficiently, including up-to-date tech-8
nology; 9
(H) should have access to training and ap-10
propriate personal protective equipment; 11
(I) should have representation in organiza-12
tions that determine policies that may affect the 13
working conditions of paraprofessionals and 14
education support staff; 15
(J) should receive notification and the op-16
portunity to provide significant input about the 17
implementation of electronic monitoring, data, 18
algorithms, and artificial intelligence technology 19
in the applicable school and should receive high- 20
quality professional development as new tech-21
nologies are introduced; 22
(K) should have adequate notice and op-23
portunity to participate, when appropriate, in 24
individualized education program meetings, be-25
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havior intervention team meetings, and other 1
similar meetings relating to the students the 2
paraprofessionals and education support staff 3
support, to the extent permitted by law; 4
(L) should experience a safe and healthy 5
working environment free from recognized haz-6
ards that cause or are likely to cause death or 7
serious physical harm; 8
(M) should experience appropriate staffing 9
levels to ensure that students have adequate 10
support and that paraprofessionals and edu-11
cation support staff can complete their jobs ef-12
fectively, efficiently, and safely; 13
(N) should receive adequate notification re-14
garding the duration of their employment; 15
(O) should have an employment contract 16
that includes a provision for the automatic re-17
newal of the contract at the expiration of the 18
contract, rather than the automatic termination 19
of the contract at such expiration, and a provi-20
sion for termination of employment for just 21
cause, rather than termination of employment 22
at will; and 23
(P) should have a process for reporting 24
workplace issues and concerns to their employer 25
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in a manner that protects paraprofessionals and 1
education support staff and other employees 2
from retaliation; 3
(2) in recognition of the importance of collective 4
bargaining in maintaining good working conditions, 5
employers of paraprofessionals and education sup-6
port staff should— 7
(A) engage in good faith negotiations; 8
(B) strive to reach timely and just con-9
tracts that fairly compensate and protect para-10
professionals and education support staff; 11
(C) refrain from replacing paraprofes-12
sionals or education support staff who engage 13
in a strike; and 14
(D) refrain from locking out such workers; 15
and 16
(3) nothing in this resolving clause should be 17
interpreted to supersede, or as an expression of the 18
House of Representatives support for any law that 19
would supersede, employment terms or conditions 20
agreed upon in collective bargaining agreements that 21
are more beneficial to paraprofessionals and edu-22
cation support staff than those described in this re-23
solving clause. 24
Æ
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