Friend,

It’s common sense. Public schools are essential to our children and our communities, and support staff are essential to our public schools and colleges. These 3 million paraprofessionals and school-related personnel are the frontline workers who transform our schools from brick-and-mortar buildings to places of learning and support for students.

PSRPs help our children read and learn math. They feed and transport our kids and keep schools warm in the winter, cool in the summer and clean year-round. They staff before and after-school programs and provide IT services that connect students to the world.

PSRPs are also essential to special-needs children. They support our students’ mental health. And they fight for the educational investments kids need to thrive.

PSRPs support public education every day. Now, it’s our turn to support them. They deserve a livable wage. They deserve to be respected.

So how do we do that? Three ways:

Support PSRPs by signing up with AFT Votes to “do something,” as former first lady Michelle Obama tells us. We must register to vote and elect representatives who support our work, like Kamala Harris for president and Tim Walz for vice president—as well as pro-education candidates up and down the ticket.

Celebrate PSRPs in October by using and sharing this toolkit during AFT PSRP Appreciation Week.

Respect PSRPs by contacting your members of Congress and asking them to co-sponsor the PSRP Bill of Rights, S.Res.450 and its companion in the House, H.Res.990. This legislation will ensure that PSRPs receive a living wage, access to high-quality affordable healthcare, 16 weeks of paid family and medical leave, access to training and professional development, job security, the freedom to join a union, adequate resources and staffing to do their jobs safely and effectively, and a say in the policies and practices that affect their working conditions!

You can also sign up to be a PSRP Bill of Rights ambassador, to take the next steps to work for this important legislation.

School support staff deserve real solutions that enable them to work in a stable, safe environment, with job security, competitive wages and a voice at work.

Together, we can make that happen.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President