I hope that there will be consistency this year with paraprofessionals in the Kindergarten classes. There certainly wasn’t last year I have heard that some schools will only have part time paras in K. Why do some schools have full time paras in each K class and other schools are splitting positions . Theses are not K integrated. So are we funding full time paras in Kindergarten or part time.
Consistency is not in the MPS manuaL! Teacher's and paras are not equal but paras should be treated with respect cause I could not have SURVIVED without my amazing Kindergarten Paraprofessional three year's ago. My para excelled in taking over a classroom, organizing a room, attending to all the children needs and more. I told my para she must Throw the Phrase, "Just a Paraprofessional" Out the Window. Work shouldn't hurt but the job is a wipe-out.
The system will tell you a para will be in the classroom but this is not true. They need to have consistency in Kindergarten along with parents enforcing all day paras with English as their first language too. The head count of children entering into one room is to much for one adult. We have seen what the district make's the paras do by going to numerous classrooms. The outcome is more accidents acure and paras out on workman's comp. The conclusion children and teacher's are being deprived of an opportunity to obtain important learning time.
Nobody who has taught on any level would argue that class size doesn't make difference. The younger the pupils, the more important this is. A class size matters especially in kindergarten. Most of us agree that 17 K students is a perfect class.