Hello, readers.
Here we go again.
American education really needs a complete overhaul.
So, let’s dig into it.
What does “paraprofessional” mean?
This morning, I stumbled upon an interesting but somewhat troubling tool.
The Edunomics Lab’s WANDA: K-12 Workforce Data Tool, created by Georgetown University, monitors workforce trends and student enrollment in public schools.
It should be noted that private education isn’t included.
Feel free to fiddle around with it; it might just leave you contemplating things peacefully.
I was born in New Jersey and spent my childhood in Pennsylvania, so I know quite a few teachers from New Jersey.
This data reflects conditions in New Jersey since 2019.
It’s notable that the student population decreased by 5,098, yet there was an increase of 11,157 in staff positions. This suggests an added compensation cost of between $800 million and $1 billion each year.
The term “paraprofessional” really grabbed my attention. I mean, what does that encompass?
Paraprofessionals assist in various roles, but they don’t handle curriculum development—that’s left to full-time teachers. They support special education, offer behavior coaching, provide inclusion assistance, and tutor in reading and math.
With the rising number of special needs reports from parents and students, many classrooms now have three to four adults present. So, who’s actually leading the teaching while the others assist?
And then there’s this concept of “inclusion” support.
Once upon a time, schools used to segregate accelerated and special needs students from those with behavioral challenges. But then it was flagged as a civil rights issue. To address this, many schools started hiring numerous individual mentors across different subjects to reintegrate these students.
However, while “inclusion” initiatives might highlight civil rights wins, they seemed to compromise traditional markers of educational success.
Just a bit over half of New Jersey’s students meet reading proficiency. Honestly, I’m a bit skeptical about that figure, especially considering how testing standards have, well, kind of softened. Education, and standardized testing in particular, feels like it’s continuing down a problematic path.
I found out about this tool from an education reform researcher who tweeted about it, using Chicago as an example.
Since 2018, Chicago Public Schools has lost 35,364 students while adding 6,343 staff members.
Just wild pic.twitter.com/f0wzEc4jCn
— Daniel Buck, “The Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” (@MrDanielBuck) February 17, 2026
Once again, we see a notable surge in the number of paraprofessionals. New Jersey is witnessing a similar trend with an uptick in teachers and certified non-school-based personnel.
This latter group is quite fascinating. They can serve various roles—guardians, coaches, cafeteria staff—and also function as administrative support, instructional coaches, intervention specialists, school counselors, and more.
In both scenarios, we’re looking at substantial funding increases to accommodate this staff growth. Yet, fundamentally, basic outcomes like reading comprehension seem to remain stagnant.
So, what’s driving this?
It’s estimated that around 85% of New Jersey’s staff increment could be linked to unions like the New Jersey Education Association and possibly the American Federation of Teachers. This might be a conservative estimate. If an additional 9,500 individuals are contributing annual dues somewhere between $800 and $1,200, that’s roughly $10 million added to public sector unions’ coffers.
But where is all that money going?
Welcome to the cycle of Democratic politics, where it circulates back to the Democrats! Who would fund systems that are, frankly, struggling?
However, hey, at least a second grader in New Jersey is now informed about gender identity.
Second grade lesson plan on gender identity in New Jersey’s new state curriculum:
“You may feel like you’re a boy even though you have body parts that some people would consider ‘girl’.” https://t.co/YKNJOvYv4R pic.twitter.com/xy5rFDqbeE
— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) January 14, 2023
This topic is quite explosive. The contents of a recent article almost made me uncomfortable—warnings for adults who might find the content surprising.
Over the last twenty years, it seems public schools, which depend on taxpayers, are producing more future illiterate individuals, misguided activists, or confused youth, and fewer literate kids.
Clearly, pouring an additional billion dollars each year isn’t leading to a more productive society.
