Pros
People (most) are very friendly and kind. The work is very rewarding because you are helping others who are very needy. The young children can often be very cute, funny and great fun to work with. I laugh almost every day at something cute or funny that a child does or says. The benefits are okay, but could be better. You get 12 sick days and 4 personal days / year, which is a nice amount of days.
Cons
Pay is very low and there is little chance for growth or advancement. However some people have been known to transfer to other departments. The work (while rewarding) is demanding physically, intellectually and emotionally. Teaching assistants are reviewed by their cooperating teachers rather than the principal. Since cooperating teachers do not have supervisory certification, they should not be doing the reviews. Clients can be verbally and physically abusive and one needs to know how to handle these situations calmly and effectively. Working with young children is not always "fun". The health insurance benefits could be better. The dental and eye is not expensive but not very comprehensive, either. And the medical insurance co pays are very high. The salary is make is not enough to afford co pays for on going treatments - like physical therapy. While you get a nice amount of sick days, they accumulate 1 per month. If you get sick and need to take several days, you end up taking days without pay because you have not accumulated enough days yet.