As the school year ends, paraeducators across Connecticut are starting to make plans for the summer.

But for too many paras, those plans are not about vacations, day trips, or time off ith family. They are about finding a second or third job. They are about figuring out how to keep food on the table, pay the bills, and afford an air conditioner in the window during the hottest days of the year.

CSEA represents 2,500 paraeducators across Connecticut, and our members have been clear that this cannot continue. Paraeducators do some of the most essential work in our schools. They support students with disabilities. They help keep classrooms running. They build relationships with children who rely on them every single day. And yet, too many paras are still paid wages that make it impossible to support themselves or their families.

That is why CSEA members have continued to push for real, lasting change, including a $45,000 minimum salary for paraeducators. 

This year, paraeducators got a foot in the door, and while much, much more work is needed. 

In addition to making the healthcare subsidy permanent (rather than an annual fight), House Bill 5003, An Act Concerning Workforce Development and Working Conditions in the State, included a technical but important change related to unemployment access for paraeducators. Under current federal and state law, paraeducators who have a “reasonable assurance” that they will return to work after the summer are generally barred from receiving unemployment benefits during the summer break. HB 5003 does not fully fix that problem. But it does move us in the right direction.

Beginning July 1, 2026, school districts will be required to provide the Connecticut Department of Labor with lists of paraeducators who do, and do not, have reasonable assurance of returning to work when school resumes. The Labor Commissioner may consider those lists when making unemployment determinations, but the list alone cannot be treated as conclusive evidence unless there is additional evidence. That may sound technical. It is. But it matters.

For years, paraeducators have been caught in a broken system where they are underpaid during the school year and blocked from unemployment during the summer. This change does not solve the crisis, but it creates more accountability and opens the door for a bigger fight ahead. And that fight starts now.

CSEA paraeducators know that small steps can become the foundation for real change. Last session’s progress is a precursor to the fight we need to wage next year to win a $45,000 salary.

Lawmakers need to understand what this work looks like. They need to hear directly from the people doing the job. They need to know what it means to live on para pay and what a $45,000 salary would mean for paraeducators, their families, their students, and their schools.

Email our Communications Director, Drew Stoner at DStoner@csea760.com with a photo and a short quote answering this question: What would a $45,000 salary mean for you?

Would it mean fewer summer jobs? More time with your own children? The ability to stay in the job you love? Less stress about groceries, rent, medical bills, or keeping your home cool in the summer?

Your stories will be used to educate lawmakers, build public support, and show Connecticut what paraeducators already know: our schools cannot function without paras, and paras deserve pay that reflects the value of their work.

The fight for a living salary start NOW. Not next year. Send your stories in now.