News from NEA

March 2005

Delay Paraprofessional Standards Implementation Date

Under the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), all paraprofessionals working in a Title I program who were hired on or before January 8, 2002, must meet new "rigorous standards" by January 8, 2006, four years after the date of enactment of the law.  Failure to meet these standards could lead to the dismissal or transfer of Title I paraprofessionals.

The National Education Association (NEA) believes this deadline should be changed to align with the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.  Affected paraprofessionals work with the most vulnerable young children who are striving to achieve the Adequate Yearly Progress mandated by NCLB.  These students face disruption of the learning environment in the middle of the school year if paraprofessionals are removed in January of next year.  NEA does not believe this is what Congress had in mind when it set an arbitrary date for compliance with the law.  Virtually every other provision of NCLB is aligned with the academic year. 

We are not asking to waive any NCLB requirements, simply to delay the implementation date for paraprofessionals by six months.

It is recognized Congress wants paraprofessionals to be qualified to work with children in developing math, reading, and writing skills.  While thousands have met the standards set in NCLB, some paraprofessionals have found it difficult to meet the requirements for a number of reasons:

·        States have been slow to set requirements for demonstrating proficiency.  Some states have posted their tests online but have not provided paper/pencil tests and vice versa.  Some school districts have not moved to administer the tests locally.

·        Even though districts could use Title II funds to help pay the costs of meeting the standards, few have done so, creating an additional hardship on low paid workers. 

 

·        Gaining two years of college credit while working fulltime is difficult.  Paraprofessionals who chose to get two year degrees to meet the requirements of NCLB have had limited time to meet the standard.  Given that NCLB became law in 2002, paraprofessionals had only seven semesters to earn four semesters of credit (11 quarters to earn 6 quarters) while working full time in their schools.

NEA believes it is good policy to keep dedicated educators in the classroom until the end of an academic year.  NEA urges Congress to move the effective date for paraprofessionals to the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.