Members of the DeKalb Federation of School Assistants (DFSA) and supporters picketed outside the District 428 Education Center for the third day this week on Friday evening.
As their union representatives negotiated a new contract inside the district office on South Fourth Street, the school assistants stood outside in a light drizzle, holding signs and chanting for “a livable wage, equal training, and professional treatment.”
“[We expect] to be treated like the professionals that we are,” said Bettina Ball of Rochelle, who is a teaching assistant at Dekalb High School. “We’re not just moms out there working at the schools anymore; we’re actually professionals who are hired to do a job. We’re working with kids, handling things, doing lessons every day.”
There were also teachers holding signs and chanting in support of the assistants, and Ball said that they know they have a lot of people behind them, including all of the different unions in the district. She said they would remain out there Friday night until their negotiating team tells them to go home.
“They’re in there working really hard for us and we appreciate everything they’re doing,” said Ball. “They’re in there for hours, till nine o’clock at night sometimes.”
Ball said if things don’t go right tonight, they will be out there picketing in front of 901 S. Fourth Street as many days as they need in order to get people’s attention.
In 2014, when they signed their last contract, DFSA represented 229 District 428 employees, including health, security, teaching and office assistants. The salaries of those employees accounted for about 7% of the district’s budget at the time.
Earlier this month, the district announced that they would be receiving an additional $2.8 million in funding from the state because of the new school funding formula. This created a $2.4 million operating surplus, based on the current budget.
Update: The District 428 School Board and DFSA reached a tentative agreement Friday night. Details of the agreement have not yet been released.
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86 Comments
Iâd love to see how your schools run without Paras and anyone feeling the âitâs an entry level job, they should go get a different oneâ can suck it. You might get some great Paras who just love these kids, but you also might be getting what you pay for.
Kristin Howarth Zissler, Ruby Chambers Interesting
My property tax went up by almost $1000 this year. Everyone needs to remember where the money comes from.
Wow, lucky you, you must own some amazing property. Mine went up $107.
Are you including in the cost of your benefits in your base salary; if not you should be as well as any others benefits received. Furthermore, if you believe your taxes are high, do you realize why that is?? If you reside within the district you teach or work as a para, you are contributing toward your wages/benefits. So the more you want in wages, then ultimately it will be reflected in taxes. This applies to anyone that receives compensation from a source that is supported/funded by taxes.
Pat, I haven’t seen “official” numbers, but the $12,000 being quoted is minimum wage, and is less than the poverty level for one person. I don’t believe poverty level takes the cost of health insurance / health care into account.
Amy Fontana, blessings and thanks to you for always replying to the misinformed with facts, spirit, grace, and patience. Keep fighting the good fight.
I stand with the amazing assistants who I work with everyday. They happily work in many different, difficult and wild situations with barely any compensation. They deserve the world for what they do for our students.
We will ALWAYS support you Dekalb school assistants!!!
Greedy?!? Do you have any idea what they get paid here?? Even with a degree full time salary is approx $12,000 annually! Could you support a family on that income? Think of how many are single parents, working with and for YOUR children every single day. There are classroom assistants, media assistants, health assistants (aka nurses), reading specialists, special education assistants, and so many more. These individuals are there with your littles every single day, supporting them in the schools, and you think asking for more than $12k a year is greedy? Absolutely not.
Quick! School district has a surplus. Letâs be greedy and grab that money before they can use it for the kids!
I think paying a competitive wage to keep and recruit quality paraprofessionals who work directly with the students is one of the best ways to âuse it for the kidsâ.
Allison Peters they already earn a suitable wage for their position. Itâs entry level and requires minimal education and experience. Anyone with an Associates that can pass the exam can become an aide. Being a substitute teacher requires more education.
You get that the paraprofessionals are the people who: take kids off the busses, supervise breakfast and lunch, provide SECURITY to MS and HS kids, lead small groups, and on and on…
Just because itâs entry level doesnât mean that they ought not to be paid what they are worth. There are many positions in this town that they can go without even an associates and make 4x that in pay.
Amy Fontana thatâs great. They do a good job. They still are not a lead teacher. Until a few years ago, they werenât even required to be licensed. Everything you just described to me sounds like a babysitter. Also, if they arenât armed and trained in how to provide true security, they donât provide security. They observe. If they are trained in true security, why does the school need security on staff?
Gelaine Gushi so maybe they should go get those jobs instead of whining and demanding more pay for the same level of service.
Maybe they should. Then the schools would be floundering to provide services which they are required to provide, and the students in the community will suffer.
Trevor A Elliott, maybe your babysitter helped teach you to read, but mine did not. The security assistants are the ones breaking up fights, keeping kids out of places they donât belong, etc. There is ONE SRO at DHS and one split between the middle schools (I believe?)…the assistants provide what day to day security we have.
Trevor A Elliott also, Iâve been teaching 18 years, and our assistants have always had to hold a paraprofessional certification.
But on the other hand, we also have to realize that the town that is taking a massive amount of money out of the pockets of its residents will have an excuse to pull more, rather than use the funds more wisely. ð
I work for a private company that has a comparable position and the starting pay is around $30,000 for full time. Even if you take out the summer months that would still be way more than a paraprofessional is making. I believe the difference is about $8 hourly.
I encourage everyone to pull their children out of the school system and homeschool them. Most (of course not all) children would be better off. ð and then they donât have an excuse to be ripping off its citizens.
Amy Fontana my mistake. You are correct, theyâve always been required to have a license but have not always been required to have a degree. Also, when I was in school, teacher did all of the tasks you listed and they still do those things in a lot of schools. Why do teachers today earn so much more but are expected to do less? We didnât have all of these aides. Special needs children had aides.
Trevor A Elliott not all teachers get aides. Only those that have students that need them. (But that often ends up with most teachers having aides in their room.)
Allison Peters thatâs the private sector. Good for your company. Maybe they should hire some of these people. $12 per hour max. Start at $9. $0.50 pay raise per year until you hit max.
Trevor A Elliott you really have no clue about the work that paraprofessionals and teachers do. Your statements couldnât be more wrong.
Gelaine Gushi so you admit that our educators are overpaid for they services they provide? That children would be better not going to a public school?
Allison Peters Iâm rather well informed actually.
Overpaid? No, not really. I think funds are misappropriated, and teachers and aides get the short end of the stick.
I think most kids would be better off homeschooled because they can get an individualized education and that the public school system is broken.
Trevor A Elliott teachers donât have aides unless they have students with special needs. There is no one in my classroom most of the time this year but me. Last year I had more students who had assistant minutes. Maybe youâd be surprised at how few classrooms have no children with IEP minutes? Iâd be shocked if there were 5 classrooms in all the elementary schools.
As for the other things I mentioned, my teachers did not supervise lunch and recess because thatâs when they ate. We had like one HS security guard (miss that John Duback). Teachers and reading specialists provided literacy interventions from what I recall, but then, the district realized they could hire fewer teachers and pay assistants peanuts to provide some of the interventions as long as teachers planned and assessed for those small groups.
School is very different from when I was a kid (I donât presume to know your age, so it may or may not be different from your days…) School is very different from when I started teaching, in fact.
Gelaine Gushi I completely agree with you. Where I differ is that I believe that teachers in this area are absurdly overpaid and get absurd pensions.
I agree that some are. I know some teachers that really canât stand their jobs, but theyâve been there for 30 years and are tenured and make a lot of money, so they are safe to treat the kids like they donât matter. Iâve seen it with my own eyes.
Trevor A Elliott I have two masters degrees. Iâve worked in this district for 18 years. I pour my heart into my job. Iâm a DeKalb âtownieâ and a taxpayer. What do you think I should make? Iâm honestly curious.
Chicago Public Schools and D428 are some great examples of our broken education system. Tons of money poured in, with little to show for it.
And as long as the unions are there, nothing will change.
Amy Fontana whatever happened to John? He was a great guy. Started a military club for the HS. If what you describe is true, then my argument would be that we need to use the surplus to hire more specialists/interventionists and maybe let some of the aides go.
Gelaine Gushi we are singing the same tune. Iâm just a little deeper than you.
Trevor A Elliott so 12000 a year is a suitable wage?
One other thing…while I think teacher salaries need to keep up with inflation, Iâm tired of the âgreedy teacherâ narrative.
Last time we negotiated, we ended up with a -1%, 0%, 0% base âincreaseâ in our contract for three years. This was after a freeze for one year in our previous contract. In that time, the districtsâ fund balance has grown by 50%. Most of us just want our salaries to keep up with inflation.
The âselfishâ stuff most of us really wanted last round were things like class size caps, to improve education for the kids in our community, and for those of us who live and work here to be able to continue the past practice that had gone on FOREVER for us to bring our kids to the schools where we teach, so we could participate in school events as teachers and parents and not have to miss things like our own childâs open house because we were at school.
We donât want to lose the benefits we currently have, either…would you?
I get that education is expensive. Our taxes suck. I pay them too. But our kids and community are worth it.
And in the case of our paras, the real point of this article, they DO deserve a living wage. They work full time, doing a taxing job many people couldnât do. And they do it well.
Trevor A Elliott Iâm not sure…he retired not long after we started teaching…maybe 2003?
Trevor A Elliott that would save us a couple assistants per elementary (the literacy assistants), so not really many people. In the long run, they are FAR less expensive than hiring reading specialists, who have Masters Degrees.
Amy Fontana average teacher pay is $70,000 per year (actually, I think itâs actually closer to 68 but I rounded up because Iâm lazy). If you were earning that, Iâd be fine with that. I also believe that teachers/administrators shouldnât be compensated for degrees they arenât using. So, if a classroom teacher earned a masters but remained a classroom teacher assuming no additional responsibility, they shouldnât be compensated for the degree. No teacher should be compensated for a PhD without assuming an administrator role. No teacher should have a six figure salary or pension. Maybe if they taught for 40 years. I also donât agree with pension spiking.
Jennifer Jeannette for what they do and the amount of time they work, yes.
Amy Fontana I graduated in 2003. He was still there for a while after I graduated. Came in and talked to the military club while I was home on leave one time.
Amy Fontana phones gonna die. Iâm out for the night. Great debate. I know the hard work teachers and paras do. Iâm related to several. I just wonder why teachers downstate do more with less compared to a place like DeKalb.
Trevor A Elliott do u know what they do? Have you shadowed a para? Have you ? Cuz I have . I’m a special ed teacher in our district and my assistants are some the hardest working individuals. What they do absolutely deserve more than 12,000. They are not just walking a classroom looking over childrens shoulders making sure they are following in their text.. these are kiddos who have medical needs, who can not walk w out assistants, who can not hold a pencil without having the help of an aid, kiddos with behavioral concerns, non verbal, incontinent, kiddos who have to be seen by a nurse multiple times a day… without my assistant I could not do my job!! My job is teach and trust me.. I dont just stand at a board while they do their work either. It takes every single one of us to give these kids the best educational experience that they can possibly get. To treat them with respect, and include them with their peers as much as physically possible. This is about the kids!! It may seem all about money, but it’s way more than that. Not supporting assistants is like not supporting our kids with special needs..
Trevor A Elliott I’m way less than that and i have 9 years experience. so I think you are off on your average or wherever you pulled that info from is incorrect.
You have no idea what we do
I don’t work for Dekalb but I am a paraprofessional. I get paid less than $20,000/year after taxes. Would you be okay with making that amount of money when your job entails being hit, bit, punched, scratched, and kicked daily? I wouldn’t trade it for the world because I love the kids, but I think our job duties earn us a little more than that. Please educate yourself.
Trevor A Elliott I think Iâm at 67,000-ish so I guess Iâm safe. My masters degrees are in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (so…what I do all day every day) and Literacy in Content Area instruction (again…thatâs reading in science and ss, I do that too.) Not all degrees lead to admin certification. Some of us like to teach. A reading specialist at Founders has an Ed D in Reading and Bilingual Education…she uses it daily and it has nothing to do with admin.
Weâll agree to disagree on 100,000 mark. The only way to get there in 428 is to max out on years, Education, and have some additional stipends (meaning extra duty, coaching, etc.)…that number doesnât appear on our salary schedule. But I think someone working as a teacher their full 35 years should be able to get there.
Pension spiking is a thing of the past, thanks to new state laws. I only wish I couldâve retired right after I started, when people were getting 20% bumps right before they left, haha.
Trevor A Elliott I student taught downstate. Cost of living is VASTLY different. Shocking to me, actually.
I think we need to be careful with our numbers. Does the average teacher make 70k? I donât think so. Are administratorâs wages included in that average? Whatâs the median wage of an actual classroom teacher? I think that gives a better idea. Time to go pull the stats. ð
Gelaine Gushi in DeKalb I think itâs more like $58,000…itâs reported in our school âreport cardâ if you look it up.
Gelaine Gushi here it is.
Didn’t you move?
Katrina Elizabeth thank you
Trevor A Elliott itâs minimum wedge. Thatâs not livable.
I’ve been pushed, pinched, punched, smacked, scratched, kicked, bitten, spit on, had my hair pulled out, had chairs thrown at me and multiple other objects… The list goes on and on; with that being said, I love my job and I love the kids. Most of the time these kids are in crisis and have no other way to communicate. It’s up to us to try to help them in these times of crisis and put the puzzle together as to why they might be in that state of crisis all while trying to educate them. And believe it or not we are educated people working as professionals. We need a license and/or a degree to do our job. We go to multiple trainings per year to further our education on how to better serve our students, your children! Please educate yourself and know what your talking about before you try to have a discussion with people about your opinion.
If you want to keep caring, educated, supportive people working with your students, pay them a living wage.
Trevor A Elliott , I think you owe those paras and teachers you say youâre related to a profound apology for accusations of greed and your allusion to babysitting. That just reveals a total lack of understanding of how educators work. Your lack of respect for the critically important roles they play makes their jobs even harder. âOverpaidâ? No. Not even close. (But if you think the pay is so much higher than what the work merits, Iâm surprised youâre not clamoring for one of those cushy jobs). ð
You can now sub as a teacher in Illinois as long as you have an associate’s degree
Amy Fontana , not bad for part time work
Troy Stocker part time work????
Part time work? They (teachers- not aides) put in more hours than any 9-5er. Even if they donât have to work over the summer.
On a yearly basis full time is considered to be 2,080 working hours , at most teachers work 8 months a year with all of the days off.
During those 8 months teachers would have to put in 65 hours a week to reach the 2,080
Troy Stocker
The article is about teacher’s assistants, who get roughly minimum wage for the hours they put in. Whether or not they work in the summer is irrelevant.
In fact, from the district school calendar, there are 180 days of teacher attendance (not counting any work they put in before the school year or over winter break) which is roughly 8.6 months. Including prep time before the school year, easily 9 months.
Thatâs pretty harsh! Amy Fontana, and ALL teachers work extremely hard for YOUR children! Where would any single person be without their teachers?!? It is far from part time work. Yes, they have summers off. Most jobs provide 1-4 weeks of paid vacation. During the summer months these teachers are planning for the upcoming school year, buying and stocking up on supplies, continuing education, and much more.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-new-education-crisis-a-teacher-shortage/
Interesting how so few people are choosing to do this high-paying, cushy part-time job. Wonder why? ð¤·ââï¸
Those three months of for students isnât the same for the teachers. They might have all of July off. If they are lucky. And teachers put many hours in that arenât in front of children.
Gelaine Gushi true. This was a short summer, but I only had 3 weeks the entire summer where I didnât have at least 2 days of curriculum work or PD.
Letâs not mention how much of that paycheck actually goes back into the classroom for things for the kids. Especially in lower income areas, such as a bit of Dekalb.
Trevor, you are so underinformedð Try being a paraprofessional, and then eat your words!
Gelaine Gushi much of DeKalb. Weâre something like 60% low income now…more than that in some schools. Most elementary teachers I know spend at least $1,000/year. Some middle and HS teachers as well. My school gave us a budget of $100 for everything we need for our classrooms.
Pretty interesting how people seem to “know it all” as they sit back on their tractor and read the daily chronicle. Trevor, I grew up with you and I’m surprised at what you think hard working people like my sister should make. She has a master’s as well and she busts her ass every day. She is well respected and deserves more pay than what she receives. I think that mowing lawns is a lot less demanding than teaching. We DEFINITELY need to discuss how much you’re getting paid, because I think it may be too much…
Stay together. Stay strong ðªð».
Thank you for reporting about this…no other local news outlets have.
The Chronicle did, very late today.
Sarah Sweet yes, weeks too late. It was quite surprising to me that the DC didnât report about the board meeting at all Tuesday night…I wondered why?!?
Oh I know. I used to be an assistant too, so I was really curious about what was going on. The teacher’s had much more coverage during negotiations. Weird in my opinion.
Sarah Sweet agree. Again I think it shows how little people understand how vital they are in our schools.
Julie Spahn Suzy Stoupa Changnon We stand with you!
Where would our kiddos be without them? Paraprofessional? The are professionals in what they do and the service they provide.
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Taxes have always been or supposed to, be to cover Public Education! 70 years ago my parents paid taxes and 5 of us Chamberlains Got the best education! We were blessed. And in a very special place! We have seen many changes in all these years but never have complained about supporting the education of our children. These people “paras’ are part and parcel of any good school district! Go Amanda Marie Riego and all her co-workers!