One-Fifth of Maryland School Staff Don’t Make Living Wages
MSEA is fighting to make sure ESPs make a living wage for their public service
The recent victorious nine-day teacher strike in West Virginia has restarted a national conversation about just how badly our country compensates teachers for their work with our future generations. Now, Oklahoma and Arizona unions have begun conversations about following West Virginia’s model.
These kinds of national stories often overshadow other vital school employees who are forgotten far too often: Education Support Professionals (ESPs).
ESPs are the non-certificated staff who are in charge of creating a safe, clean, healthy, and supportive learning environment for our students (and much more). They are our bus drivers, food and building service workers, technicians, clerical workers, paraprofessionals, and so many other roles.
“Schools do not work if our technology is down—whether it is computers to prepare and execute instruction, internet to support the library and other research needs, or all of these systems working together for the online standardized tests. If I’m not good at my job, the school can come to a halt. And I’m not unique. Education support professional like myself are essential to the workings of all of our schools.” — Keion Dorsey, Anne Arundel County Technician
And it turns out, 24,670 of them receive less than a living wage as compensation for their public service. That’s 20% of the state’s entire Pre-K-through-12 public education workforce.
ESP Living Wage Bill of 2018
When the preliminary Kirwan Commission recommendations focused on big increases for teacher salary — but barely even mentioned ESPs, who are one-third of the state’s education workforce, MSEA started working to change the conversation to include all school employees. Working with former educators Del. Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore/Howard-District 12) and Sen. Joanne Benson (D-Prince George’s-District 24), we introduced legislation to create a statewide minimum salary for all school staff. Here’s how it would work:
For higher cost-of-living counties (Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s), the state will require annual wages of at least $36,000 when fully implemented. For lower cost-of-living counties, the state will require annual wages of at least $31,500 when fully implemented. From that point on, the minimum floor will rise with inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.
And in all counties, this only establishes a minimum — local unions will still have collective bargaining power to go above and beyond that threshold.
According to the Department of Legislative Services analysis of the bill, 16,610 ESPs in the higher cost-of-living counties would be brought up to the $36,000 level. In the state’s more exurban and rural counties, an additional 8,060 ESPs are expected to be raised above the $31,500 standard. In all, that’s 24,670 of the roughly 40,000 ESPs in our public schools.
“Our dedicated education support professionals show up every day to do their jobs on behalf of all the students in our great state of Maryland. They are invested, caring, and hardworking employees who are not incidental, but are instead essential in moving the school year forward day after day.” — Jill Morris, President of the Education Association of St. Mary’s County
Path to Passage
After a successful bill hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee earlier in the month, tomorrow (March 15) is another important hearing for the legislation in the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. MSEA President Betty Weller is joining Sen. Benson and three ESP leaders to testify in support of the legislation with one simple request: “Do not let ESPs be forgotten.”
But we have a chance to make an even louder statement on Monday night (March 19) during MSEA’s March to Fix the Fund in Annapolis. There, more than 1,800 educators are expected to rally and march in support of addressing $2.9 billion in funding gaps facing our schools — including the non-living wages of the majority of our ESPs.
Unfortunately, our state and counties have consistently, year-in and year-out, made our ESPs a last priority when it comes to budgets. In many cases, districts do the best they can, despite inadequate county and state funding, on salaries for administrators and teachers, leaving whatever is left for para-educators, technicians, building service workers, and so on. And every year, their wages become more and more unfair and uncompetitive.
That means it’s very expensive for the state to immediately ensure all ESPs get living wages. And that’s why the $500 million increase in education funding that we can win through the Fix the Fund Act will make it possible for the state and counties to begin funding professional salaries that all public servants deserve.
You can RSVP to attend the March here:
