Want to Improve Schools? Education Assistants Have Ideas

Education assistants ‘are instrumental in the collective efforts to increase our equity of education and our access, and really for the outcomes of students,’ Education Minister Lisa Beare told The Tyee. Photo by Bart Everson, Creative Commons licensed.

As an education assistant in the Delta School District, every day is a “new adventure” for Debby Kabesh, who typically works across five different classrooms.

In three of those classrooms, Kabesh supports three to four kids, while the other two classrooms have just one or two kids who need her help to learn.

It’s not the rotation of classrooms and number of bright young faces seen on a daily basis that makes the role of an education assistant in a public school difficult, says Kabesh, a 15-year veteran of the job and secretary treasurer for CUPE Local 1091.

“It’s knowing that I can’t give every student the support that they need and deserve,” she said.

The five education assistants in her school are just not enough to cover students’ needs, Kabesh said. “We’re stretched pretty thin.”

This complaint comes not only from education assistants, but also from teachers, school districts, and parents who have reported their children with extra support needs are excluded from school due to EA shortages.

It’s a longstanding problem in B.C., coinciding with an ongoing teacher shortage.

And it’s gaining traction.

Last month the Office of the BC Ombudsperson announced an ongoing investigation into the exclusion of kids from schools, many of whom have disabilities and/or learning support needs — the students education assistants are supposed to help.

Two weeks later, the Representative for Children and Youth released a report calling on the province to, amongst other things, put an education assistant in every classroom.

While the NDP campaigned on a promise to place education assistants in every public kindergarten to Grade 3 classroom last fall, now-Premier David Eby’s ministerial mandate letter for Education Minister Lisa Beare was vague on the topic, instead instructing her to ensure “that teachers and schools have access to additional supports in the classroom and beyond, including the expansion of education assistants.”

In a recent interview, Beare told The Tyee that education assistants “are instrumental in the collective efforts to increase our equity of education and our access, and really for the outcomes of students.”

The Tyee interviewed Kabesh and two other education assistants, all represented by CUPE local unions, to find out what they would like to see change to improve their working conditions and consequently improve students’ learning conditions.

Part-time, not full-time, hours

Education assistants’ work hours don’t typically include time outside of class hours to collaborate with teachers or attend meetings with the parents of the kids they work with.

“There’s an awful lot of support in schools that goes on behind the scenes, but education assistants are not part of that because there’s no funding for those hours,” said Selena Laing, an education assistant in Prince George with seven years of experience.

“We miss key meetings and information, and times that we could contribute.”

In Damien Arden’s Campbell River district, education assistants receive 30 minutes paid time per month to attend staff meetings. But those meetings are only relevant for teachers and school administrators, said Arden, an education assistant with 10 years of experience who also serves as the Indigenous shop steward for CUPE Local 723.

“It would be nice to see a once-a-month education assistant staff meeting,” Arden said.

The number of hours worked per week and the hourly pay for education assistants varies from district to district.

Kabesh works 26 hours per week, starting when the school bell rings in the morning and finishing at the final bell of the day.

The hourly pay in Delta is decent, Kabesh said. But the number of hours of work makes the job unaffordable for many.

“Some education assistants are working two or three jobs just to get by,” she said.

Education Minister Lisa Beare said many districts are implementing before- and after-school child-care programs that could lengthen an education assistant’s workday.

“We hear from education assistants ourselves that not having full-time hours in the week really prevents them from potentially staying in a job that they love,” Beare said.

Kabesh agrees, noting the Delta school district is running a “seamless day child care” pilot program with before- and after-school care in some schools right now.

Making a living wage in a full-time job would mean going home at the end of the workday with more peace of mind, Arden told The Tyee, and education assistants wouldn’t have to go on employment insurance during the summer break.

Beare noted this is a bargaining year for the education sector, and that some of education assistants’ issues could be addressed during contract negotiations.

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