Paraprofessionals offer critical support by helping teachers lead the next generation. Data from Omaha Public Schools shows the number of paras and substitute teachers on staff is rising.

Getting the classroom ready for the new year is a back-to-school ritual for every teacher.

Meliaa Jones is doing it with the help of her mother.

"She adopted five. I am one of them. So she has inspired me and she had me working with kids at the age of 13, so I knew right then and there that was my purpose, to help people grow just like she helped me grow," Jones told KETV.

Both mother and daughter have worked as paraprofessionals.

"It will be 25 years in October," said Jones' mother, Sharon Prince.

But now, Jones is starting her first year as a teacher. She's at Lothrop Elementary, a school both she

See Full Page