Labor and civil rights get personal at PSRP breakfast

The continued fight of paraprofessionals and school-related personnel for a living wage, safe working conditions and respect and dignity on the job was the centerpiece of the PSRP breakfast at the AFT convention in Houston on Tuesday morning. The breakfast opened with a video interview of civil rights leaders Velma and Norman Hill and ended with a raffle for copies of their memoir, Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain. They bookended a panel discussion with AFT paraprofessionals Carron Johnson, Todd Kerr and Sarah Wofford and moderated by Leo Casey, executive director emeritus of the Albert Shanker Institute.

They each recounted stories of their own inspiration and challenges, and how sitting down in the face of injustice is never an option. For Johnson, it was watching gun violence continue in her community after she herself was a victim that catalyzed her journey into union work, gun violence prevention and community service. "I didn't have a choice," she said. "It came right back to my doorstep."

It was also experiencing racism as the only Black person and the only woman in her class at college-and watching no one respond to the violence in her community at home. "There are people in my neighborhood getting shot and no one comes," she said. "We're learning CPR ourselves."

For Wofford, who is president of the Oregon School Employees Association and is spearheading OSEA's Work Shouldn't Hurt campaign, it was making sure that people who take care of kids also take care of themselves. It can be hard, she said, to explain that people can get hurt working with 8-year-olds and that keeping PSRPs safe has to be a priority.

Similarly for Kerr, a member of the Boston Teachers Union PSRP council, fighting for a living wage for paras is about making sure that people understand not only what paraprofessionals do, but also that they are indispensable. "Kids need paras," he said.

The Hills'-and the AFT's-work for labor rights and civil rights, isn't done, explained Shelvy Abrams, the chair of the paraprofessional chapter of the United Federation of Teachers. "We are standing on the shoulders of giants," she said. "Our job is not done. It has just begun. If we do not get out and vote and we do not voice our strength, don't worry about anything else. You're going to be floating in the water with nothing. Keep going."

[Melanie Boyer, photo by Pam Wolfe]