LYNNFIELD — Education support professionals (ESPs), or paraprofessionals, at Lynnfield Public Schools are demanding an increase in their salaries and work compensation, teachers and members of the Lynnfield Teachers Association (LTA) said at the town’s most recent School Committee meeting.

“When people ask me what I do for a living, I’ve said that I teach special education,” Lynnfield High School paraprofessional Alex Romano said. “And the response is usually something like, ‘That’s a noble job. I could never do that.’ Or, ‘It takes a special person to do that.’ The sad part is that none of us in the special education department feel special at all. Particularly the paraprofessionals, we do not feel recognized, fairly compensated, or respected by the Lynnfield School Committee or the superintendent.”

The most an ESP in town is paid is $23,318.10 annually, which is low in comparison to the salaries received by paraprofessionals in other school districts in the area.

The highest salary for an ESP in Andover is $52,827.74 annually. In Greater Lawrence Technical School, Lynn, Wakefield, and North Reading, the highest ESP salaries are $52,827.74, $40,216.99, $$35,446.58, and $32,710.60 annually, respectively.   

“We love our jobs and the difference we make in the classroom is irreplaceable,” Lynnfield High School math teacher Leane Manderson said, reading a letter on behalf of paraprofessionals at the Huckleberry Hill Elementary School. “However, the financial compensation for our labor does not reflect our value in school. The fact of the matter is, in order to support ourselves, we need to take on additional jobs. The below-poverty wages we receive from our primary jobs are woefully inadequate and create the additional stress and burden of needing to take second, third, and fourth jobs within schools or outside in private business.”

Hundreds of educators, parents, and supporters from the community gathered at the School Committee’s Tuesday meeting to express their growing concerns with the state of Lynnfield Public Schools.

Unfair compensation was another topic raised at the meeting.

“We can’t fill positions because we don’t pay folks a living wage,” Lynnfield paraprofessional Kathy O’Brien said. “When a paraprofessional can go to Andover, Malden, North Andover, or Melrose and make $10K, $20K, or $30K more a year, how can LPS expect to find new staff and to keep us?”