Proposed grant program would help classroom aides to become teachers

By John L. Micek – Capital-Star

HARRISBURG, PA – The Commonwealth is facing a statewide teachers shortage. Burned out by the pandemic and the culture war at the school board, teachers are leaving the profession well ahead of schedule across the state.

At the same time Pennsylvania has been seeing a decline in new college graduates entering the field for years.

Now, a Republican lawmaker from Cambria County is announcing his plan to help with the problem.

On Tuesday, state Rep. Jim Rigby, R-Cambria, began seeking co-sponsors for a proposed grant program that would create a pipeline for school district paraprofessionals, commonly referred to as teachers’ aides or instructional assistants, to move to the front of the class.

“Paraprofessionals play an important role in our educational community and are well positioned to help address the current teacher shortage,” Rigby said of the program, which would allow those crucial aides to stay employed while they pursue their additional training.

Colleges and universities that participate in the grant program also would be “required to use a portion of the grant money to provide a discounted tuition or additional financial aid to paraprofessionals enrolled in the program,” Rigby wrote in his ‘Dear Colleague‘ memo on Tuesday.

While the jobs are in demand and serve an important purpose (a Google search reveals a wide-range of openings), classroom aides, who are not certified teachers, are paid less than some teachers. In Pennsylvania, for instance, the average wage for a classroom paraprofessional is $30,475, according to one analysis.

In his Tuesday memo, Rigby said his plan “will encourage institutions of higher education to offer alternative and cost-effective pathways for paraprofessionals to return to school and earn their teacher certification.”