Santa Barbara Unified Recruiting Staff to Combat Special Ed Shortages 

Vacancies in special education are plaguing school districts nationwide, and Santa Barbara Unified is no exception. 

To recruit staff and fill the shortage, the district is holding a hiring fair this Saturday, focusing on its two greatest areas of need — paraeducators (teachers’ aides) and bilingual curriculum specialists.  

“We definitely have a shortage everywhere, and so our district will probably have at least 60 positions that we’re needing to fill — and that’s just paraeducators,” said Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources John Becchio. “We invite anyone looking for a job to come out and speak with our staff.”

Saturday’s fair will primarily target special education paraeducators — who work directly with special needs students — and bilingual paraeducators and curriculum specialists, all essential roles to take some of the weight off teachers’ shoulders while providing academic support to students. 

“We have multiple vacancies in these spaces, and so we want to get people in, to talk to them, and get them interviewed, done all in one day,” Becchio added. “We’ll have interview teams here ready to vet people that come in and see what they’re interested in.”

Throughout the last school year, teachers shouldered the symptoms of the support shortage, including classroom disruptions and impacts to instruction. 

“A lot of what you heard teachers talk about is really true — they’re critically important positions that we do have to get filled,” Becchio acknowledged. “Teachers are trained to deal with students with special needs, but to have a support person makes it much easier for the teacher to be able to differentiate instruction and help these kids.”  

Higher turnover rates are common for paraeducators, as it’s often a transitional position, spanning a nine-month contract. Additionally, Becchio said, the job market has been much less forgiving since the pandemic. 

“A lot of times for people, they want experience in the schools, but they want to move on and do something else,” he explained. “We do get some people that make careers as a paraeducator.… But each year we do have turnover, so each year we hire a bunch.” 

The pay scale for paraeducators is $18.75-$24.50 per hour to provide support for students both inside and outside the classroom. For bilingual curriculum specialists, the pay scale is $29.69-$32.34 per hour to provide specific services to students individually or in small groups in reading and phonics. 

The job fair is happening Saturday, August 10, from 1-4 p.m. at the District Office on 720 Santa Barbara Street. However, candidates who can’t attend the fair are encouraged to apply online through the district website.

The district has also been marketing the positions toward UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College students who want to pursue a career in the classroom and need a place to start. While paraeducator positions typically involve six-hour days, the district is considering reducing hours on some positions to accommodate interested students’ busy schedules.

“Even if we only fill 10 positions, that’s 10 positions filled,” Becchio said. “If we got to talk to 20-30 people, that would be a really good afternoon.” 

To learn more about vacant job openings at Santa Barbara Unified, visit the district’s careers webpage.