Pre-K teacher dealing with aide who undermines me—what would you do?

Hi everyone, I’m a Pre-K teacher at a private school and I’m looking for advice on a situation that’s been really draining.

I’m the licensed teacher of record, but I work with a classroom aide who has been at the school for many years. The issue is that she often acts like she’s the teacher, and there’s a lot of role confusion.

Some examples:

   •   She overrides my decisions in front of students

   •   She gives directions that contradict mine

   •   She sometimes takes over activities or leads without checking in

   •   There have been moments where she communicates with parents or admin in ways that don’t align with what I’ve said

It creates a really uncomfortable environment because:

   •   It confuses the students

   •   It undermines my authority

   •   It makes it harder to run a consistent classroom

I’ve tried to stay professional and calm, and I’ve also started being more assertive about my role, but it still feels like she doesn’t fully respect the boundary between aide vs. teacher.

For context, I recently signed my contract for next year and will have my own classroom, so I won’t be paired with her again—but I still have to get through the rest of this year.

My questions:

   •   How would you handle an aide who oversteps like this?

   •   Would you address it directly, involve admin, or just manage it day-to-day?

   •   Any strategies to maintain authority without creating more tension?

I genuinely love teaching and my students, but this dynamic has been one of the hardest parts of my job.

Thanks in advance for any advice.