Another Injustice

I would like to take a moment to make people aware of what I perceive to be an injustice in the current school system. It does not totally lay at the feet of the school system, because the State allows them to do it. The school system could, of course, volunteer to fix the problem but it might cost pay raises. Below I will list the problem and the solution.

The problem is in the cooks and cafeteria workers. No I don't think they make bad food or leave the floors dirty. Actually I always liked those little square pizza things they make. No, the problem is the way they are paid. Or maybe the way they are not paid. I am amazed at the people who believe that these people are paid for the summers.

In all actuality, these workers are paid little more than minimum wage for the school year. They have no benefits and no insurance whatsoever. Anytime the school has a budget crisis their hours are cut. And finally at the end of the school year, these workers are laid off until the next year. Almost three months of summer without pay! They are forbidden from drawing unemployment because they have a reasonable expectation of being rehired. So the State does not require that they be allowed to draw unemployment.

Now many schools remedy this by setting aside a pay for these employees for the summer. It's not as much as regular pay, but it helps them out. It is in the school's best interest to do so, to stop employee turnover. However, not surprisingly, our schools do nothing.

Recently, the school system offered these employees insurance. They offered it if the employees were willing to pay for it. The cost of this insurance could run up to $400 per month. This was hardly more than a stop gap to allow the school to say "We offered them insurance." Most would have found cheaper rates through the private sector and have. But based on the amount of money these employees are paid, and not being paid through the summer, they can not afford health insurance.

So you say let them get other jobs? There are plenty of people to fill these positions if these people are so unhappy? Let me ask you, are these people that are willing to work under these conditions and not complain the type of people you want feeding your kids?

So what can you do? There are two Bills before the State right now that would require the School Systems to allow these workers to draw unemployment like everyone else who is laid off for three months at a time. The two bills are:

Senate Bill SB2332

House Bill HB2267

I urge all my readers to e-mail their Representatives and Senators and ask them to support these two bills. It is important that you do so. You would want someone to help you, should you be in this position. If you do nothing else, e-mail these two and help these people out. If you want to help out more, click the link title "Help out more" to find e-mail links to all House and Senate members. You can copy and paste the same message to each e-mail address. It only takes a few minutes and for once you can make a difference. We intend to use this resource for more topics in the future.

Click Here to E-mail Mike Williams
Click Here to E-mail Mark Goins
Help Out More

Simply tell them that you would like them to support HB2267 and SB2332, because you feel the cooks and custodians deserve to be paid.

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