Speaker: Sharon Stallings , Educational Aide, DeSoto ISD
Sharon Stallings : How this has taken a toll on me is definitely mental health and my financial security. Currently, I am unable to maintain my household on what I get paid as things rise. That puts a lot of stress on me, on having to figure out how I'm going to have my ends meet each month. Uh, with this pay raise, it will definitely increase the stability of my finances. With the support of admin, it definitely will heighten the morale that you have with your educational aides. We're unappreciated. There's no support for us, and it shows. Every time we bring up the issue, it's thrown under the rug as if it doesn't exist and then we're told to suck it up, go back to work, or find another job — as if they're doing us a favor. We're actually doing them a favor because without us, it just wouldn't work. Yeah. So paying us what we are worth is more than what I make now. We definitely earn and deserve $20 an hour for the work that we do. We do more than what the teachers do. We go above and beyond. We stay late. We come in early. We handle classroom management. We handle the behaviors. We handle the paperwork. Do we get the recognition that we deserve? No, we do not. Do we get the pay that we deserve? No, we do not. Do we deserve it? Yes, we do
