‘They Are so Underpaid’: School Support Staff Scrape by on Meager Earnings
April 25, 2018
By: Moriah Balingit
Source: The Washington Post
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jessica Morales gets to Prairie Queen Elementary before the bell rings. In class, she is a lifeline for recent immigrant students, translating lessons they cannot understand. Last year, when a teacher had to leave school unexpectedly, Morales filled in, decorating the classroom, teaching the class, holding parent-teacher conferences.
Her job as a teacher assistant is more fulfilling than the one she held at a meatpacking plant, but it pays far less: $12 an hour.
The students “want you to come and they miss you and they care about you,” Morales said. “That fills your heart and your soul, and [you’re] able to come no matter how much you make.”