Senate Resolution Calls for Living Wages, Year-Round Security, and 16 Weeks Paid Leave for School Support Staff

This Senate resolution is essentially Congress putting its foot down and saying that the 3 million-plus school support staff—the teaching assistants, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and clerical staff—deserve a massive upgrade in pay and job security. It’s not a law, but a strong statement of belief that these essential workers are currently getting a raw deal, facing low pay, benefit gaps, and the constant threat of being laid off every summer.

The Security Upgrade: Beyond Summer Layoffs

For anyone who works in a school but isn't a teacher, the lack of stability is a huge stressor. This resolution targets that head-on. It states that support staff should have automatic contract renewal and only be fired for "just cause." Think of it like this: your job should keep going unless you genuinely mess up, instead of having to sweat out an annual rehire process. This change, if implemented locally, would provide financial stability and reduce the anxiety of summer unemployment, which often forces people to take on second or third jobs just to cover the gap.

Money and Time Off: The Kitchen Table Issues

This is where the resolution gets specific about real-world costs. It advocates for wages that are competitive and livable, and access to affordable healthcare—addressing the common practice of keeping staff below full-time hours just to avoid providing benefits. Crucially, it calls for support staff to be covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and receive 16 weeks of paid family and medical leave. Sixteen weeks of paid time off to deal with a serious family or personal medical issue is a game-changer for working families, especially those currently scraping by on low wages.

Your Voice in the Classroom and the Boardroom

The resolution recognizes that these staff members are often the most connected to the students they serve, yet they often have no say in school decisions. It demands that they be included in relevant student meetings, such as IEP meetings, where their input is critical. Even more timely, it requires that support staff have a real chance to provide input before schools implement new technologies like electronic monitoring, data tracking, or AI. This is a necessary check against new surveillance tools that could impact their jobs or their interactions with students, ensuring that the people on the ground have a voice in how tech is deployed.

The Cost of Doing Right

While this resolution is purely aspirational—it doesn't mandate anything—it clearly signals that Congress believes local school districts need to start spending significantly more on their support staff. Implementing higher wages, comprehensive benefits, and 16 weeks of paid leave would place a significant financial burden on local school budgets. For local governments, this means finding new funding streams or reallocating existing funds. While the benefits (better staff retention, reduced shortages, higher quality student support) are clear, the challenge lies in how these unfunded mandates would be paid for at the local level. It’s a classic policy trade-off: better working conditions equal better schools, but someone has to foot the bill.