Out of our schools' core competence
At the budget committee meeting last night, Hillsboro School Superintendent Jeremy Lyon replied to a question from one of the committee members about the proposal of outsourcing the custodians' positions. He said that we need to look at all that is not strictly within our core competence, which is educating children, to look for ways to save money.Basically, the vast majority of classified employees should be aware that if the district management has its way, there will be a discussion on whether we should keep them as district employees or if we should outsource their jobs out. Are school buses next? Are we going to have secretaries in our schools who are employees of a temp agency?
I have my reasons to be against outsourcing classified jobs. I don't like the idea of eliminating a living wage job and having that same job done by a minimum wage worker who will rely on taxpayer money to keep his family off the street and out of malnutrition. Outsourcing support positions when it does not make us more efficient is not a good idea.
I have a button that says "I support the HCU bargaining team", and I wear it. One of the three people in the public at the budget meeting last night who was not a union representative or a school board candidate (a principal) approached me and asked me why. I support our classified employees, I support our teachers, I support our students and our parents. I support our schools and everyone in it. We need them, we need their commitment and their ideas. The little I have seen regarding the current contract negotiations make me think that I would not support the district position.
posted by Unknown @ 1:23 PM
2 Comments:
It's great to see a blog from Hillsboro advocating for public schools.
I taught in Hillsboro (at Evergreen) until 1998, and I too describe myself as an advocate for public education.
When I ran for the Portland School Board in 2003, I strongly supported the reinstatement of custodians who had been outsourced as a money saving measure. That, and other stances, at least got me the Green Party endorsement. Spending little money, I finished second in my zone out of eight candidates. I concluded that ideas do indeed count.
I applaud your support for living wage jobs, and know that you're not alone.
YES, THE OUTSOURCING OF CLASSIFIED WORKERS IS A NATIONAL TREND. THE EDUCATORS SAY, "WE CAN SAVE" IF WE CONTRACT OUT CLASSIFIED POSITIONS. WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN IS THEY CAN HAVE MORE MONEY TO HIRE MORE ADMINISTRATORS. AT INFLATED WAGES AND BENEFIT PACKAGES. ONE CAN LOOK AT THE PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO SEE THAT THIS IS TRUE. STEVE GOLDSCHMIDT AND HIS ABLE ASSISTANTS ARE A PRIME EXAMPLE. OUR SCHOOLS ARE CRUMBLING AND THE PUBLIC DOES NOTHING. ACTUALLY, OUR SCHOOLS HAVE MORE THAN FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. WE COULD LOOK AT THE STUDENT DISCIPLINE PROBLEM. RAMPANT VANDALISM IN THE PORTLAND PUBLICS SCHOOLS COSTS TAXPAYERS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR. NO MENTION OF THIS?? HOW DO I KNOW? WELL, I WAS A CUSTODIAN FOR THE DISTRICT FOR 13YEARS. ABRUPTLY, IN SPITE OF A STATE LAW, I WAS TERMINATED IN 2002. WHERE DOES A 60 YEAR OLD CUSTODIAN FIND A JOB.. ANS: HE DOESN'T.
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