ESP employees join the fight against RIFs, contact lawmakers
Volume 12, Issue 7 - April 2008
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| Education support professional Daniel Swaney left his previous job of 22 years to work at Lakeport Unified School District because he felt LUSD was more secure. Now he’s in danger of being laid off. |
Daniel Swaney is close to completing his second year as a night custodian at Lakeport Unified School District. He and his wife, Carol, a paraeducator in the same district, have just adopted three girls. And he has just learned that he might be losing his job. “I’m kind of waiting it out at this point,” says Swaney. “I think they will keep me if there’s any way they can. I’m still hopeful, because I love my job very much.”
Daniel and Carol Swaney recently adopted Kassie, 14, her biological sister Robyn, 17, and Karen, 16. All three girls have been living with them for the past two years as foster children.
Swaney left his previous job after 22 years to work for the school district. It’s somewhat ironic, because he decided to work for Lakeport Unified — even though he knew he’d be making less money there — because he thought he’d be more secure.
The jobs of many education support professionals (ESP) have been threatened due to the governor’s proposed $4.8 billion cuts to public education.
Unlike teachers, ESP employees did not have to be issued pink slips by their districts by March 15. Instead, according to the Education Code, ESP employees require only 45 days’ notice.
The impact of fewer classified employees can wreak havoc on schools, says Mike Downey, chair of the CTA ESP Issues Advisory Committee.
“It will affect everything from school lunches to transportation to campus cleanliness to learning in the classroom,” says Downey, a custodian and member of the Ventura Classified Employees Association.
“And lots of schools have already cut many classified positions during the past years and not restored these positions. So schools are looking for more cuts and wondering whether they can really cut more. In some schools, due to cutbacks, custodians may only clean classrooms every fourth day now.”
In addition to Swaney, other positions may be eliminated in the district, including paraeducators, a secretary and a maintenance worker, says Doreen McGuire-Grigg, president of the Lakeport Unified Classified Employees Association (LCEA).
“Because we’re in a small district, it’s hard,” says McGuire-Grigg. “We recently went over ‘bumping rights.’ That happens when someone’s job is eliminated and that person can ‘bump’ someone else out of a job. One of our members said, ‘How can I do that to someone? We’re all family.’ But we have to make a living and it’s very painful. I know that some members are losing a lot of sleep.”
LUCEA members may be upset, but they are making their voices heard. Recently 23 members used district laptops to e-mail their lawmakers about the importance of adequately funding public education.
“We went to the CTA website (www.cta.org) and went right to the ‘e-mail your lawmaker’ section,” says McGuire-Grigg. “All 23 members e-mailed, and some of them even forwarded the information to family and friends.”
Penny Ellis, president of the Las Virgenes Classified Association, fears that special-needs students and teachers may not have adequate support if instructional assistant (paraeducator) positions are cut in her district.
Already the hours of some paras have been reduced. Because paras are extremely underpaid, losing just a few hours of salary can make a big difference when trying to make ends meet, says Ellis.
Four positions have been cut for members of the Association of Classified Employees, Culver City, including a secretary and a switchboard operator, says Debbie Hamme, association president. And hours have been reduced for five of her members. Those who have been laid off may spend 39 months on the district’s rehire list, but most will look for other jobs, since “thirty-nine months is a long time to go without work and most have families to feed.”
Hamme fears that the district may not be finished cutting classified positions. “We’re always worried. We are a small district and we had to cut $3.7 million from our budget. At the last board meeting we had only managed to cut $1.7 million. It’s incredibly painful, because over the past four years we’ve already lost a tremendous number of people due to cuts. I think everything is on the table at this point.”
“Support staff is incredibly important to schools,” adds Hamme. “Schools depend on us to keep things running smoothly. We are often in the background and sometimes people don’t realize how important we are until we aren’t there. Suddenly people will say, ‘The bathrooms aren’t clean’ or ‘We need more security on campus.’ And then people will notice we aren’t there.”
