Lake Oswego Educational Assistants (EAs) are found to be earning some of the lowest wages and have some of the highest turnover rates in the Lake Oswego School District (LOSD). EAs earn a base wage of $17.63 as of 2022. Staff at LOHS described the EA situation as a revolving door, with EAs being on the job for as brief as only a few weeks.                                         

EAs serve crucial roles at LOHS, especially for programs such as ACCESS and Pathways. However the job can be demanding, and in the words of a DA, “When it comes to duties, we do other protocols besides what’s listed on our job description, which is probably a factor as to why people leave” said EA Dalton Ablios. These protocols include far more than what meets the eye including emergency medical procedures, bathroom procedures, and behavior procedures.

These responsibilities were described as stressful by some EAs especially as the role was described to be different from the job description. “Here, the training is minimal at best, which is a huge factor for the success of both the kids and the staff that stay,” explained Ablios. “People get hurt a lot more than anywhere I’ve ever worked before because I don’t think they have the proper training.”

When asked what Ablios thought of frequent EA turnover he mentioned that “if you look up other like pay rates for surrounding districts we are the second lowest in the surrounding area. And then you look at Gresham, and I think it’s like a $7 an hour pay difference. So they’re like fully staffed over there.”