What Do Paras Do For Income During School Off Periods? A Teacher Explains
The hallway reeked of melted crayons and half-eaten popsicles the last day of school this May, and Lila, my paraprofessional of four years, was shoving crumpled construction paper art into a garbage bag while kids screamed down the hall chasing each other with bubble wands. I asked what she had planned for her first official day of summer break tomorrow, and she snorted, wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of her wrist. “Up at 6 to clean the Henderson’s house before their vacation, then I’m helping Mrs. Lee at the library inventory picture books all afternoon,” she said. “No lazy beach days for me until I cover June’s rent.”
I’d been teaching 4th grade at this elementary school for seven years, and I still forget how many people outside the building don’t know what most paras go through to make ends meet when school is out. Unlike full-time teachers, who are usually on 12-month pay cycles even when they’re not in the building, the vast majority of paras in our district are paid only for the hours they work in school. That means no paychecks for 10 weeks of summer, a week off for winter break, and a week for spring break every year. Lila makes $18 an hour, which is actually on the higher end for paras in our area. After rent for her two-bedroom apartment, her 10-year-old son’s soccer fees, and health insurance, she brings home about $2,200 a month during the school year. There’s nothing left to tuck away for months when no check is coming.
So what do they actually do for income during those off periods? The answer is almost always a patchwork of casual, flexible side jobs that fit their needs, not anything fancy. Lila picked up regular house cleaning shifts five years ago, after she couldn’t cover her car’s new transmission one spring break. Mia, the para who works with our nonverbal students, does dog walking and pet sitting through a local app, and picks up extra shifts over breaks to cover the gap. James, who splits his time between the cafeteria and the resource room, drives for a local moving company during any school break. He told me last winter that the hourly rate for moving is almost double what he makes as a para, so a week of moving over Christmas break covers all his holiday gifts and the heat bill for that month. Other paras I work with run small home childcare groups for school-aged kids whose parents still work full time over summer, or work the cash register at the local grocery store, or help people organize their garages and closets for extra cash.
Last year, I overheard a parent talking at our end-of-year picnic complaining that paras get “three full months of paid vacation to do whatever they want.” When I gently told her most don’t get paid at all over summer, she stared at me like I was speaking another language. That’s the thing: most parents see paras at back-to-school night, on field trips, helping their kid learn to read or tie their shoes, and they assume they have the same benefits and pay structure as teachers. It’s not something we talk about much, even within school walls.
The good news is there are small, concrete things parents and schools can do to make this easier, that don’t require a huge tax increase or a whole new policy. A couple years ago, I started asking parents in our class newsletter if they needed any casual help over summer—childcare, pet sitting, house cleaning, yard work—and I connected them to paras at our school who were looking for extra shifts. Almost every time, it works out for everyone: parents get help from someone who already has a background check done by the school and knows how to handle kids, and paras get steady extra income without having to hunt for work. Our PTA started doing a voluntary end-of-year cash pull instead of just giving individual gift cards a couple years ago, and last year we gave each of our 12 paras a $175 bonus. That’s enough to cover a full tank of gas and a month of groceries for most of them, which takes a huge amount of pressure off that first week of summer when the last paycheck from the school hits the bank.
For districts, the change is even simpler: make 12-month pay the default for paras. Right now, most districts let you choose between 10 paychecks a year (bigger checks during school, nothing off) or 12 (smaller checks spread evenly through the year, so you get paid every month). But most paras don’t know the option exists, or have to jump through three different forms and meetings to sign up. Making 12-month pay automatic removes that barrier, and it doesn’t cost the district any extra money—it just spreads out what they’re already paying. Districts can also give current paras first dibs on any open summer school or extended year shifts before hiring outside, which gives them consistent income with an employer they already know.
I ran into Lila at the grocery store last week. She was buying popsicles and a chocolate birthday cake for her son’s end-of-June party, and she told me three of her cleaning clients this summer are parents from our class. She’s already got enough shifts booked to cover June and July’s rent, and she’s planning a weekend camping trip with her son the second week of August. It’s not a fix for the bigger problem of underpaid school support staff, and there are still months where she has to choose between a new pair of sneakers for her son and getting her oil changed. But it’s a little extra breathing room, the kind that makes a huge difference when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. Most paras don’t want handouts. They just want people to know they need work during off periods, and they’re willing to work hard for it.
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