III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 450 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that paraprofessionals and education 

support staff should have fair compensation, benefits, and working conditions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. WARREN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate 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 instructional assistants who work in elementary schools, 

secondary schools, or public institutions of higher education; 

Whereas education support staff (also sometimes known as 

‘‘classified school employees’’ or ‘‘education support professionals’’) include professionals who work in elementary 

schools, secondary schools, or public institutions of higher 

education in clerical and administrative services, transportation services, food and nutrition services, custodial 


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•SRES 450 IS 

and maintenance services, health and student services, 

technical services, and skilled trades; 

Whereas more than 3,000,000 paraprofessionals and education support staff are the frontline workers who transform 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 necessary staff in almost every position; 

Whereas, since the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic, a 

shortage of teachers has resulted in some paraprofessionals and education support staff being expected to assume the duties of teachers without commensurate compensation 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 paraprofessionals and education support staff are not full-time employees because their services, including those of bus 

drivers and food service workers, are time delimited; 

Whereas many paraprofessionals and education support staff 

lack access to high-quality, affordable health care because 

they are intentionally hired for insufficient hours to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Nov 07, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR450.IS SR450

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ceive health and retirement benefits, or otherwise are 

charged exorbitant employee premiums for health insurance; 

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 paraprofessionals 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 excluded from professional growth and development opportunities; 

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 deserve 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; 

Whereas respecting paraprofessionals and education support 

staff is essential to creating and maintaining safe and 

supportive school environments that are conducive to students learning and thriving; and 


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•SRES 450 IS 

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: 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate 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, af7 fordable healthcare and healthcare benefits at a 

8 de minimus personal cost; 

9 (C) should be considered to be eligible em10 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 develop17 ment days, and other short-term closures; 

18 (F) should have access to meaningful and 

19 free or affordable professional growth and de20 velopment opportunities during regular paid 

21 working hours that provide a path to career ad22 vancement; 


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1 (G) should have sufficient resources and 

2 supplies to enable them to do their job effec3 tively and efficiently, including up-to-date tech4 nology; 

5 (H) should have access to training and ap6 propriate personal protective equipment; 

7 (I) should have representation in organiza8 tions that determine policies that may affect the 

9 working conditions of paraprofessionals and 

10 education support staff; 

11 (J) should receive notification and the op12 portunity to provide significant input about the 

13 implementation of electronic monitoring, data, 

14 algorithms, and artificial intelligence technology 

15 in the applicable school and should receive high16 quality professional development as new tech17 nologies are introduced; 

18 (K) should have adequate notice and op19 portunity to participate, when appropriate, in 

20 individualized education program meetings, be21 havior intervention team meetings, and other 

22 similar meetings relating to the students the 

23 paraprofessionals and education support staff 

24 support, to the extent permitted by law; 


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1 (L) should experience a safe and healthy 

2 working environment free from recognized haz3 ards that cause or are likely to cause death or 

4 serious physical harm; 

5 (M) should experience appropriate staffing 

6 levels to ensure that students have adequate 

7 support and that paraprofessionals and edu8 cation support staff can complete their jobs ef9 fectively, efficiently, and safely; 

10 (N) should receive adequate notification re11 garding the duration of their employment; 

12 (O) should have an employment contract 

13 that includes a provision for the automatic re14 newal of the contract at the expiration of the 

15 contract, rather than the automatic termination 

16 of the contract at such expiration, and a provi17 sion for termination of employment for just 

18 cause, rather than termination of employment 

19 at will; and 

20 (P) should have a process for reporting 

21 workplace issues and concerns to their employer 

22 in a manner that protects paraprofessionals and 

23 education support staff and other employees 

24 from retaliation; 


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1 (2) in recognition of the importance of collective 

2 bargaining in maintaining good working conditions, 

3 employers of paraprofessionals and education sup4 port staff should— 

5 (A) engage in good faith negotiations; 

6 (B) strive to reach timely and just con7 tracts that fairly compensate and protect para8 professionals and education support staff; 

9 (C) refrain from replacing paraprofes10 sionals or education support staff who engage 

11 in a strike; and 

12 (D) refrain from locking out such workers; 

13 and 

14 (3) nothing in this resolving clause should be 

15 interpreted to supersede, or as an expression of the 

16 Senate’s support for any law that would supersede, 

17 employment terms or conditions agreed upon in col18 lective bargaining agreements that are more bene19 ficial to paraprofessionals and education support 

20 staff than those described in this resolving clause. 

Æ 


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