School Districts, Charter Schools Save Money By Impoverishing Support Staff [View all]

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http://www.alternet.org/school-districts-charter-schools-save-money-impoverishing-support-staff



At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, two of America’s largest school districts, Chicago and Philadelphia, closed a total of 73 public schools between the two cities. Thousands of employees were laid off, including many food service, janitorial and security workers. In Philadelphia alone, 1,202 safety staffers who prevent violence when students aren’t in class, were laid off.

These cutbacks are only the latest instances of a sustained effort to cut costs by eliminating unionized positions in public schools either by hiring support staff through private entities—like Aramark or Sodhexo—or by replacing traditional schools with charters, which are usually aren’t covered by a school district’s union contracts. There’s a vast difference between working in an unionized public school district and working in an unorganized school of any kind. For employees, non-teacher positions at non-union schools usually means little job or retirement security, limited (if any) health insurance, sick leave, vacations, and much lower pay.

“The last day of work was absolutely the hardest day of my life,” says Takeeva Thompson, who was just laid off from her job in the cafeteria of Kohn Elementary, an overwhelmingly African-American school in deep Southside Chicago. “I know we are looked at as being the unimportant staff in the school, but I took pride in what I did and I appreciated the relationship I had with those kids. I helped buy uniforms, I helped with homework, I helped with funerals because we lost children to gun violence. We are like second and third mothers to a lot of those children.”

Thompson’s job included helping the cooks prepare hot meals and doing other work around the kitchen, cleaning meat, chopping up fruits and vegetables, and keeping everything organized, but she often ended up assuming duties well outside of her official job. Thompson was part-time, usually working about five hours a day for about $12 or $13 an hour. But as a member of UNITE HERE Local 1 she received comprehensive healthcare and paid holidays, sick days and vacation.