New Books Network Nick Juravich, "Para Power: How Paraprofessional Labor Changed Education" (U Illinois Press, 2024)
Mar 29, 2026
Nick Juravich, assistant professor of history and labor studies at UMass Boston, explores how paraprofessionals transformed U.S. schools. He traces their rise in the late 1960s, ties to Black and Latino community struggles, and roles in classrooms and unions. The conversation highlights origins, union choices, political coalition shifts, and connections to today’s education labor movements.
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Paraprofessionals Are A Massive Care Workforce
- Paraprofessionals (paras) are nearly 900,000 K–12 educators who perform pedagogical care without teacher licensure.
- About half work with special education; many originated from Title I/war-on-poverty programs to connect schools to communities.
First-Year Paras Met Chaos And Proved Their Value
- Early New York paras in 1967 often met their classroom teachers on day one and faced chaotic starts yet proved indispensable.
- A UFT internal survey after that first year found teachers overwhelmingly supported paras and wanted them in the union.
Paras Emerged From A Crisis Of Care
- Juravich frames the rise of paras as a response to a 'crisis of care' where racialized, gendered divisions shifted care work onto low-paid women of color.
- Because paras were in public schools with unions, they could organize rather than remain invisible care labor.
