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By Rami Bridge

Some of our most valued educators in Somerville, our paraprofessionals, are paid poverty-level wages, even while the cost of living in our area has skyrocketed. This is wrong and does not reflect our values. The Somerville Teachers Association (STA) is fighting for a contract that guarantees a respectful salary for all educators. The classrooms that I grew up in were led by a single teacher, usually standing in the front of the room leading the whole class in a single activity. In our schools today this is often no longer the case. We recognize that not all students learn the same way or at the same pace. Meeting the needs of all of our students requires more educators in each classroom. Many students in our schools learn from lead teachers in conjunction with paraprofessionals. On a typical day paraprofessionals provide a range of vital classroom services, including: support to a small group of struggling readers, teaching class when the teacher is absent, helping dysregulated students while the class continues uninterrupted, working on a project with a small group of students in the hall while the rest of the class is working in the classroom, and providing special education support. They are the ones to find dry clothes for students after bathroom accidents and take care of many other daily needs too.

Our educators are our schools. No educator in a class by themselves can give all their students the support they need. It takes a team of dedicated professionals. Paraprofessionals are the glue that holds the team together. Our schools would not function without them. And yet the starting salary of a paraprofessional in Somerville is $20,680. The pay scale tops out at $25,502, which is less than the federal poverty level for a family of four. Many paraprofessionals are forced to work second and third jobs to make ends meet. The STA is currently in negotiations with the Somerville School Committee for a new paraprofessional contract. We have proposed a starting salary of $25,000. As a community we have an opportunity to address the injustice of paying full-time educators so little.

In his 2018 inaugural address, Mayor Joe Curtatone said, “Standing up for things based on our community values is what we do best here in Somerville. Nowhere will you find a better example than in our schools.” And in many ways, this is true. Somerville is right to be proud of our schools. We do an excellent job of educating all of our students – because of our educators. While Mayor Curtatone has proudly stated that our school budget has increased more than 70 percent over his time as mayor, our paraprofessionals have not experienced the same investment. If the city had invested in their salaries at this same rate then their starting salary would be just under $25,000, which is the STA’s proposal. The School Committee has responded to our proposal by requesting a mediator from the Department of Labor Relations. This is a step taken in negotiations when the two sides cannot find common ground without outside help. Our elected officials are so opposed to a $25,000 starting salary that they believe we cannot even talk to one another.

Somerville is thriving. Assembly Row has been transformed into a booming shopping and business center. Union Square is about to begin its own transformation, and the Green Line will connect Somerville to Boston like never before. Those of us fortunate enough to own homes in this city are benefitting exponentially from this amazing growth. In this moment where our city is changing dramatically, our choices define the values we hold as a community. It is up to us to decide who benefits from this growth and who is left behind.

Our paraprofessionals deserve to be compensated for the invaluable role they play in our schools. Our students deserve educators who come to school fresh and ready to teach. Educator working conditions are student learning conditions. If we truly are the community that we say we are, we must come together to support the talented professionals that we are taking for granted.

Our schools belong to all of us. If you value the professionals who we entrust with our children, and if you believe that the prosperity of our city should be reinvested in the people who build it, then let School Committee know. Join me, wearing red, at the next Somerville School Committee Meeting at City Hall on Monday, January 13, at 6:45 p.m. Educators and community members will be speaking on behalf of paraprofessionals in advance of the next negotiation session. Call or email your representatives to the School Committee. Sign our pledge of support for paraprofessionals. Make your voice heard and tell our elected officials that everyone working in our schools deserves a respectful salary.

Rami Bridge is a Somerville Resident, 7^th and 8^th Grade Math Teacher at West Somerville Neighborhood School, and President of the Somerville Teachers Association. www.somervilleteachers.com.