Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SR158 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	III
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. RES. 158
5	5	Expressing the sense of the Senate that paraprofessionals and education
6	6	support staff should have fair compensation, benefits, and working conditions.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	APRIL7, 2025
9	9	Mr. M
10	10	ARKEY(for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr.
11	11	B
12	12	OOKER, Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. WARREN) submitted the following reso-
13	13	lution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education,
14	14	Labor, and Pensions
15	15	RESOLUTION
16	16	Expressing the sense of the Senate that paraprofessionals
17	17	and education support staff should have fair compensa-
18	18	tion, benefits, and working conditions.
19	19	Whereas paraprofessionals (also sometimes known as
20	20	‘‘paraeducators’’) include education assistants and in-
21	21	structional assistants who work in elementary schools,
22	22	secondary schools, or public institutions of higher edu-
23	23	cation;
24	24	Whereas education support staff (also sometimes known as
25	25	‘‘classified school employees’’ or ‘‘education support pro-
26	26	fessionals’’) include professionals who work in elementary
27	27	schools, secondary schools, or public institutions of higher
28	28	education in clerical and administrative services, trans-
29	29	portation services, food and nutrition services, custodial
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32	32	•SRES 158 IS
33	33	and maintenance services, health and student services,
34	34	technical services, and skilled trades;
35	35	Whereas more than 3,000,000 paraprofessionals and edu-
36	36	cation support staff are the frontline workers who trans-
37	37	form schools in the United States from brick and mortar
38	38	buildings to places of learning and support for more than
39	39	49,000,000 students across the United States;
40	40	Whereas, since the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic, school
41	41	staff employment has fallen across positions and there
42	42	are still 331,000 fewer school staff than before the
43	43	COVID–19 pandemic, leaving schools without the nec-
44	44	essary staff in almost every position;
45	45	Whereas, since the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic, a
46	46	shortage of teachers has resulted in some paraprofes-
47	47	sionals and education support staff being expected to as-
48	48	sume the duties of teachers without commensurate com-
49	49	pensation or benefits;
50	50	Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff
51	51	are undercompensated for their work, and do not receive
52	52	a living wage, much less a competitive, family sustaining
53	53	living wage;
54	54	Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff
55	55	are, as a matter of practice, laid off at the end of each
56	56	school year and rehired annually, and lack job security;
57	57	Whereas, unlike most school employees, many paraprofes-
58	58	sionals and education support staff are not full-time em-
59	59	ployees because their services, including those of bus
60	60	drivers and food service workers, are time delimited;
61	61	Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff
62	62	lack access to high-quality, affordable health care because
63	63	they are intentionally hired for insufficient hours to re-
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66	66	•SRES 158 IS
67	67	ceive health and retirement benefits, or otherwise are
68	68	charged exorbitant employee premiums for health insur-
69	69	ance;
70	70	Whereas, while paraprofessionals and education support staff
71	71	are often the most diverse subset of school employees, are
72	72	more likely to have grown up in the communities they
73	73	serve, and are the trusted school community members for
74	74	many students and parents, the voices of paraprofes-
75	75	sionals and education support staff are not always valued
76	76	in forming school policies;
77	77	Whereas paraprofessionals and education support staff often
78	78	serve students facing systemic barriers, but are often ex-
79	79	cluded from professional growth and development oppor-
80	80	tunities;
81	81	Whereas, like many school employees, paraprofessionals and
82	82	education support staff are too often subject to workplace
83	83	violence and other safety hazards, including contaminants
84	84	and extreme temperatures;
85	85	Whereas paraprofessionals and education support staff de-
86	86	serve real solutions that would empower them to—
87	87	(1) work in a stable, safe environment;
88	88	(2) have multi-year job security;
89	89	(3) receive livable and competitive wages, access to
90	90	sufficient hours, and fair compensation for their work;
91	91	and
92	92	(4) have a voice on the job and meaningful input in
93	93	school policy;
94	94	Whereas respecting paraprofessionals and education support
95	95	staff is essential to creating and maintaining safe and
96	96	supportive school environments that are conducive to stu-
97	97	dents learning and thriving; and
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100	100	•SRES 158 IS
101	101	Whereas Congress seeks to recognize the rights, respect, and
102	102	dignity that paraprofessionals and education support
103	103	staff deserve as they continue to care for and educate the
104	104	next generation: Now, therefore, be it:
105	105	Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 1
106	106	(1) paraprofessionals and education support 2
107	107	staff— 3
108	108	(A) should be compensated at a rate that 4
109	109	is a livable, competitive wage; 5
110	110	(B) should have access to high-quality, af-6
111	111	fordable healthcare and healthcare benefits at a 7
112	112	de minimus personal cost; 8
113	113	(C) should be considered to be eligible em-9
114	114	ployees under the Family and Medical Leave 10
115	115	Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 11
116	116	(D) should be entitled to 16 weeks of paid 12
117	117	family and medical leave; 13
118	118	(E) should have paid leave for all planned 14
119	119	and unforeseen school closures, including 15
120	120	weather-related closures, professional develop-16
121	121	ment days, and other short-term closures; 17
122	122	(F) should have access to meaningful and 18
123	123	free or affordable professional growth and de-19
124	124	velopment opportunities during regular paid 20
125	125	working hours that provide a path to career ad-21
126	126	vancement; 22
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129	129	•SRES 158 IS
130	130	(G) should have sufficient resources and 1
131	131	supplies to enable them to do their job effec-2
132	132	tively and efficiently, including up-to-date tech-3
133	133	nology; 4
134	134	(H) should have access to training and ap-5
135	135	propriate personal protective equipment; 6
136	136	(I) should have representation in organiza-7
137	137	tions that determine policies that may affect the 8
138	138	working conditions of paraprofessionals and 9
139	139	education support staff; 10
140	140	(J) should receive notification and the op-11
141	141	portunity to provide significant input about the 12
142	142	implementation of electronic monitoring, data, 13
143	143	algorithms, and artificial intelligence technology 14
144	144	in the applicable school and should receive high- 15
145	145	quality professional development as new tech-16
146	146	nologies are introduced; 17
147	147	(K) should have adequate notice and op-18
148	148	portunity to participate, when appropriate, in 19
149	149	individualized education program meetings, be-20
150	150	havior intervention team meetings, and other 21
151	151	similar meetings relating to the students the 22
152	152	paraprofessionals and education support staff 23
153	153	support, to the extent permitted by law; 24
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156	156	•SRES 158 IS
157	157	(L) should experience a safe and healthy 1
158	158	working environment free from recognized haz-2
159	159	ards that cause or are likely to cause death or 3
160	160	serious physical harm; 4
161	161	(M) should experience appropriate staffing 5
162	162	levels to ensure that students have adequate 6
163	163	support and that paraprofessionals and edu-7
164	164	cation support staff can complete their jobs ef-8
165	165	fectively, efficiently, and safely; 9
166	166	(N) should receive adequate notification re-10
167	167	garding the duration of their employment; 11
168	168	(O) should have an employment contract 12
169	169	that includes a provision for the automatic re-13
170	170	newal of the contract at the expiration of the 14
171	171	contract, rather than the automatic termination 15
172	172	of the contract at such expiration, and a provi-16
173	173	sion for termination of employment for just 17
174	174	cause, rather than termination of employment 18
175	175	at will; and 19
176	176	(P) should have a process for reporting 20
177	177	workplace issues and concerns to their employer 21
178	178	in a manner that protects paraprofessionals and 22
179	179	education support staff and other employees 23
180	180	from retaliation; 24
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183	183	•SRES 158 IS
184	184	(2) in recognition of the importance of collective 1
185	185	bargaining in maintaining good working conditions, 2
186	186	employers of paraprofessionals and education sup-3
187	187	port staff should— 4
188	188	(A) engage in good faith negotiations; 5
189	189	(B) strive to reach timely and just con-6
190	190	tracts that fairly compensate and protect para-7
191	191	professionals and education support staff; 8
192	192	(C) refrain from replacing paraprofes-9
193	193	sionals or education support staff who engage 10
194	194	in a strike; and 11
195	195	(D) refrain from locking out such workers; 12
196	196	and 13
197	197	(3) nothing in this resolving clause should be 14
198	198	interpreted to supersede, or as an expression of the 15
199	199	Senate’s support for any law that would supersede, 16
200	200	employment terms or conditions agreed upon in col-17
201	201	lective bargaining agreements that are more bene-18
202	202	ficial to paraprofessionals and education support 19
203	203	staff than those described in this resolving clause. 20
204	204	Æ
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