My class is different. I teach 11 students with moderate to severe disabilities. Due to the high needs of our class, we need 6 paraprofessional aides. They help with all parts of our students’ day, from taking them to the restroom to helping them practice independent learning skills. On the first day of school, the first day back after a year of online learning, I had one aide. She is an amazing person, but no person can do the work of 6 people. I had to send one student home early because we didn’t have anyone to help him get out of his wheelchair. Our class immediately became a daycare, and all academics went out the window. Since the needs of my students are so high, it is impossible to teach and reinforce all the skills and routines that need to be introduced on day one. We worked for two straight weeks with no breaks or lunches. Other teachers offered to help, but were unable to help us with what we needed. It isn’t their fault, they have their own classes to worry about. I worked through panic attacks, frustrated tears and fits of hysterical laughter at such an impossible situation. There was no one else to make sure our students were safe and clean, healthy and happy. 

   Since then, our class has hired two more people, and the district has given me a revolving door of subs to fill in as warm bodies, never as many as we need. Every day is the first day of school in my class. Imagine needing someone to take you to the bathroom, to help you change and clean yourself, to help you eat. Now imagine that each day a new stranger is responsible for all those very private and personal needs. How can I expect my students to feel safe enough to learn when they are wondering who will take them to the bathroom that day? I’ve sent parents to complain to the district, and I’ve complained plenty myself. The district says it’s hard to find people to work. That they are short all over. However I have heard from colleagues that they have at least some aides in their rooms, 1 or 2 open positions, not 3-5. Why was my class left out? My students are different, not less than others. They need more support, not less.