There are more than 20 vacant special education assistant jobs at this Philly school — a ‘dangerous’ situation, staffers say

There are more than 20 vacant paraprofessional jobs at Childs Elementary in Point Breeze — two dozen unfilled positions for aides and classroom assistants meant to support students with disabilities.

With that many crucial roles vacant, and a large population of students with significant disabilities — including children who require help using the bathroom and performing other basic tasks — there are sometimes not enough staff to tend to kids’ needs, let alone ensure learning occurs or progress is made toward educational goals, several Childs staff said.

“It feels very untenable,” said Abram Taber, a Childs teacher whose child also attends the school. “It feels unsafe.”

Amid a national educator shortage, staffing every classroom has proved challenging in many parts of the country. Philadelphia School District officials said there was a 96% “fill rate” for teaching jobs at the beginning of the school year, saying open teacher roles will be filled by certified substitutes or central office staff with teaching licenses. Staffing the lower-paid support roles has been even more difficult, and there are often no substitutes to fill in.

Districtwide, there are a whopping 619 special education assistant vacancies — of 3,219 jobs, 2,600 are filled — an 81% fill rate. At the same time last year, the district had 381 open special education assistant jobs, an 85% fill rate; at this point in the 2022-23 school year, there were 560 vacancies, a 78% fill rate.

“As we continue to fill [special education assistant] positions throughout the district, we are working with school leaders to identify needs, provide building substitutes to support with coverage, and we are working with an outside vendor to provide” the assistants, said Christina Clark, a district spokesperson.

New special education assistants are paid $24,648 annually, but the most veteran assistants’ salary tops out at $36,856.

Childs is far from the only district school struggling with special education assistant vacancies. But its situation is particularly acute.

Last school year, one in four Childs students had an individual education plan, or IEP, due to a disability. About 10 special education assistant vacancies at the school were never filled.

“We had enough to survive, but not thrive,” said Taber, the school’s music teacher.

This year, the district added two autistic support classes at Childs.

Students with disabilities such as autism are among those with IEPs, which, under federal law, guarantee them certain supports. That could mean services like speech or occupational therapy, or a one-on-one assistant if required.

Childs’ autistic support classes added new special education assistant positions, and vacancies ballooned, multiple staffers told The Inquirer.

The vacancies are no fault of the Childs administration, who work hard to find candidates and fill gaps as best they can, and have repeatedly appealed to their higher-ups for help, the staffers said.

But more is needed from central office staff, people on the ground at Childs say.

Often, parents aren’t aware of the situation inside their kids’ classrooms, Taber said — many are economically disadvantaged, do not speak English, or work hours not conducive to spending time advocating for their children at school.

Parents trust that the school is adequately staffed and has enough resources to properly educate their children and keep them safe, but “there’s a lot of trust that’s being broken,” Taber said. “We need bodies to help keep kids safe and to give them the education that they deserve.”

For those paraprofessionals and professional staff who are working at Childs, the huge special education assistant vacancy situation means being pulled in multiple directions, giving up lunches and prep periods to try to ensure students’ basic safety — and often having to forgo student instruction or services.

Students with mobility challenges whose IEPs call for them to walk with assistance, for instance, must often be kept immobile because there are not enough adults to help them maneuver independently, one Childs staffer said. Assistants who might be legally assigned to one student end up supporting entire classrooms because of a lack of adults; students whose IEPs call for them to spend part of the day in a general education classroom might not be able to do so because there’s no assistant to accompany them.

The staffer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, described one of the autistic support classes as “grossly understaffed, unsafe, and not viable for any learning to occur. Our current situation is completely unsafe and not in compliance with the students’ IEPs.”

The staffer said that “not only is the district shirking their legal responsibility at Childs, they have created an unsafe environment for both students and staff with no solutions from non-school based admin other than to grin and bear it. Our most vulnerable students are getting a raw deal due to systemic issues the district was aware existed before opening these new classrooms.”

Childs is “an amazing school,” said another staffer, who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of consequences. “We’re doing a great job of welcoming students with a lot of types of needs, and our special ed teachers are great, and we all do the best we can.” But, the staffer said, “there’s not enough of us.”

The vacancies and their ramifications feel very heavy, the second staffer said.

“It’s understood that we’re not supposed to be telling the families that we’re violating their children’s IEPs even though it’s not our choice,” said the staffer.

Because IEPs are legal documents protected by federal law, families can sue the district over violations, and some do. When that happens, the staffer said, the student whose family sued gets what they need “but nothing changes systematically. We just have to pull somebody for that family, but nothing changes on a larger level.”