‘Learn as you earn’ programs pay southwest Illinoisans to become teacher’s aides
Whitney Roberson found herself unsatisfied with her paralegal job during the pandemic.
As she watched her 7-year-old son’s peers struggle with remote schooling, she decided she wanted to leave the traditional workforce and become more involved with her son and students who may be “falling through the cracks.” Roberson’s goal coincided with a dire staffing shortage in Illinois schools.
“As a parent, I believe it’s important that we are actually immersed in our children’s education, not only to help them work but to show solidarity with their educators,” Roberson said.
The East St. Louis mom discovered a program that would allow her to achieve that goal and develop her professional skills. The statewide Parent to Parapro Pipeline apprenticeship program started in 2019 under Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and connects parents with paraprofessional opportunities in their community’s schools.
Paraprofessionals, also known as teacher’s aides, prepare materials, tutor students and assist teachers.
In southwestern Illinois, the program has grown to Brooklyn-Lovejoy, Cahokia Heights, East St. Louis and Madison.
Participating parents from those districts earn a $3,000 annual stipend and don’t need a degree. By the end of the free program, which usually lasts a year or two, participants will have a paraprofessional certificate. If they don’t have a high school diploma, they will receive assistance in getting a GED.
Roberson said she has helped students at Mason Clark Middle School in East St Louis who need special education as well as those who need a little extra support. The experience has also helped her improve her computer skills.
An East St. Louis nonprofit administers the program, which costs $460,000 annually and receives money from local school districts, the state, the U.S. Department of Labor and St. Clair County. Community Development Sustainable Solutions Executive Director Stephanie Taylor said the program increases parental involvement and gives them training through a “learn as you earn” setting.
“They can go in there and receive professional development hours through our organization,” Taylor said at a news conference Monday in East St. Louis. “We give them work readiness skills, professional development and other educational tools to ensure that they build capacity.”
Since it began, 176 participants have graduated from the pipeline program. While the Parapro pipeline is only for parents with children in the districts, there’s another related program for anyone older than 18.
The Prestige Professional Pipeline is for people who complete the parent-mentor program or who have some experience in education or social work. Prestige participants earn $20 an hour.
Tyra Paulette works overnight shifts as a social worker at the St. Patrick Center, a homeless service provider in St. Louis. In the morning, she gets her 7-year-old daughter ready and they go to Maplewood Elementary School in Cahokia together. She spends a few hours there assisting first graders before going home to sleep.
“It’s my community, and if I can help them along, and if I can help better their lives overall, then I want to be a part of that,” Paulette said.
The extra help supports teachers who faced limited resources during the pandemic, said Sergio Hernandez, director of family and community engagement at the Illinois State Board of Education.
“We have a crisis in regards to trying to have staffing for our schools,” Hernandez said. “We’re trying to invest in programs like this across the state.”
Prestige has 15 paid leadership positions and 96 parent mentors across the four districts, as well as 25 participants in the Prestige program.
To learn more about the programs, visit cdss-esl.org/home or email Taylor at sbush@cdss-esl.org.
State Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea, said the East St. Louis nonprofit’s leaders lobbied him and state Rep. LaToya Greenwood to secure money in the state budget for the programs. Community organizations often know how to best serve local interests, he said.
“They’ll tell you what’s really going on,” Belt said.
Pritzker signed legislation in 2019 to develop Illinois’ paraprofressional pipeline. Belt said he expects the state budget to fund the program at $8 million this fiscal year, the same as last year.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
