Some school districts pay aides in special education programs slightly higher wages. Teacher Aides in these programs experience a high turnover rate because they find that work with mentally and physically disabled students may be too difficult or challenging for them. School districts in Los Angeles and San Francisco tend to pay the highest wages.
Aides usually work part time from three to six hours a day.
There are not many eight hour jobs. Some aides are covered by union contracts and have health benefits, but many part time aides do not receive pensions, health insurance, or other benefits. Teachers must now deal with more and more students in each class, changes in teaching technology, more record keeping, changes in subject matter, more students with different backgrounds who need extra attention and help, and many non-teaching tasks. Teacher Aides are needed to help teachers with clerical tasks, routine classroom activities, and various other duties that keep the class running smoothly. Although Teacher Aides work in both elementary and secondary schools, most of them work in the early grades.