Multiple studies have found improved outcomes for students when resources are directed toward recruiting and retaining the education support staff they depend on. In a recent op-ed, Hartford Federation of Paraeducators President Shellye Davis (at podium in photo, above) called for overdue investments to reverse the learning crisis plaguing the capital city. She urged district officials to take appropriate action reflecting that “real respect isn’t lost in words; it’s added to the paycheck:”
Hartford is a city brimming with potential—a place where dreams are nurtured in classrooms across every neighborhood. Despite limited resources, we believe every student deserves a thriving educational ecosystem.
But we face a learning crisis—exacerbated by the pandemic and decades of chronic underinvestment—that threatens to further weaken this foundation. If we continue to ignore it, the classroom experience in both our neighborhood and magnet schools will suffer.
At this moment, Hartford is nearly 80 paraeducators short, a staggering number caused by one simple but devastating truth: the wages are not livable.
Imagine a farmer tending their field – planting the best seeds, using the finest tools, and yet forgetting the equipment needed to till the soil. Even the best seeds will fail in hardened ground. Our paraeducators are those essential tools—preparing the ground for learning, growth, and achievement.
They work side-by-side with teachers, giving one-on-one support to some of our most vulnerable students. They guide, they listen, they nurture. They are the unseen hands holding up our educational system.
Take “Maria,” a young student diagnosed with a learning disability. Her paraeducator, “Ms. Rodriguez,” didn’t just help her with tasks – she helped her believe in herself. That support was life-changing (note: names are illustrative and used to represent the real work happening in our schools).
But how long can we ask Ms. Rodriguez, and so many others like her, to give their all, while juggling second jobs, stressing over rent, or deciding between groceries and gas?
Here’s another image: a barn, strong but aging. Ignore a few cracked beams and wait too long to repair them, and a storm will collapse the entire structure. That’s what happens when we underpay paraeducators—they are the beams that hold our schools up.
This isn’t only about fairness – it’s about protecting the future of every classroom. When we pay paraeducators fairly, we keep passionate, qualified individuals who are invested in our students’ success. Students with special needs, in particular, depend on consistency and trust, which are lost with constant staff turnover.
Hartford has always been resilient. But resilience requires vision and action.
Let’s show our gratitude with action, because real respect isn’t lost in words; it’s added to the paycheck.
The time to fix the foundation is now, before the pressure on our schools turns into a break we can’t repair, and before we lose the heart of what makes education work: the people who show up every day for our kids.
