Para-plethora

          Up to this point in my educational career, as a student and then as teacher, the number of paraeducators with whom I have interacted has been few and far between.  Thinking back to the times I have interacted with paraeducators as a student and later as a parent, I can only clearly remember the name of one of them.  She was my daughter's kindergarten teacher's assistant.  She was memorable because her role was well choreographed as an essential member of the instructional team.  My daughter mentioned her as often as she did the teacher and considered her "one of my teachers."  I remember how much I appreciated the positive environment the teacher and teacher assistant created and projected in their interactions.
          In contrast, the teacher's assistants from "back-in-the-day" when I was an elementary student, were like shadows.  I vaguely recall once watching a teacher's assistant cut out templates for our art class; and a time when our class rejoiced over her returning from making mimeograph copies (we liked the smell of the fresh copies) to distribute to students as the teacher gave instructions.  I don't remember her name and I think my only direct interaction with her was to get a band-aid when I skinned my knee on the playground.
          Our readings and focus on paraeducators has really enlightened my understanding of the examples I observed throughout my life.  I had not realized how NCLB had affected the qualifications required for paraeducators.  Friend & Cook (2010) presented a complex picture of what appears to be an evolving element of education in their explanation for teachers' understanding the role paraeducators play in education.  Their explanation of the benefits in having paraeducators' assistance in schools certainly seem to offset the additional responsibilities for teacher's to supervise and direct paraeducator duties. However, one of the reasons for the increasing use of paraeducators was disturbing, though logical, to me.  "In some instances paraeducators are employed to supplement the services of special educators as an understandable but sometimes questionable means of saving money, that is, the cost of employing a paraeducator is significantly less than the cost of employing an additional special education teacher (US Department of Labor, 2007).  I wondered if the number of paraeducators could become overwhelming for licensed teachers who must supervise and direct their work if school administrators are having to stretch their budgets to provide critical support for students with special needs.