For decades education support professionals have been essential in providing a high quality public education to our students. Over this same time, our jobs duties, expectations, and qualification have increased significantly while our wages have not. When you account for inflation, we are making less today than we did 10 or 20 years ago.
The Britannica Dictionary difines respect as:
1: a feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable, important, etc.
2 : a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an appropriate way
We are good, valuable, and important and we deserve to be treated as such! It is time that districts and communities see the valuable contributions we provide for the success of our students, districts, and communities. We deserve to earn a livible wage.
IEA Education Support Professional Council 