Paraprofessionals in our classrooms are crucial to the education of our children. These "assistant" teachers take on some of the most difficult work and our schools would not be able to operate without them. The Somerville Teachers Association is fighting to get better wages for our paras and I support them.

Currently, Somerville pays paraprofessionals a starting salary of $20,000/year, nowhere near a living wage. They have no job security -- each summer paras have to wait to see if they receive a letter inviting them to come back to the school.

This situation leads to our paras working multiple jobs and still not being able to afford to live in the city they work in. It also leads to high turnover, which is hard on our kids.

In addition, the Somerville School Committee has not attended any of the meetings in this contract negotiation. The paras are asking that School Committee members, who have the final say on the contract, attend these negotiations.

All the paras are asking is:

• A starting salary of $25,000
• Job security after 4 years
• A 2-year contract

If you agree that we should pay our kids' teachers a living wage, please sign this petition. Thank you!