SOUTH HADLEY — Unionized teachers, educators and other workers in South Hadley’s school district are speaking out about their expired contract and what they say is low pay for paraeducators.
Members of the South Hadley Education Association — the union of teachers, paraeducators and other staffers in the district — have taken to social media to highlight that they are now entering their second year of work without a contract. The union is asking community members to contact the School Committee and urge the body to settle negotiations that began last fall.
“Our priority as a membership right now is taking care of our paraeducators,” teacher Amy Foley, the union’s president, said Wednesday. “They’re the backbone of our classrooms … We really want to make sure they get fair pay for the hard work they put in each day.”
Currently, Foley said, the entry-level pay for some paraeducators is $12.17 an hour. She said that is the lowest for paraeducators, not just in Hampshire County but also Hampden County, adding that the district has nearly two dozen paraeducator vacancies currently.
The union negotiates with the town’s School Committee, which is chaired by Allison Schlachter, who said this week that districts everywhere have paraeducator vacancies. She said that the School Committee gave the union a proposal to raise paraeducator pay “months ago,” but that the two parties are now in mediation as negotiations continue.
“Yes, the old contract is way too low,” Schlachter said. “The paraeducators absolutely deserve a raise and the School Committee is trying to give them a raise.”
Schlachter shared with the Gazette what she said was the School Committee’s last proposal around the issue of paraeducator pay.
In the chart Schlachter shared, paraeducators are divided into four categories based on their educational background: high school, highly qualified, associate degree and bachelor’s degree. Under the proposal, starting hourly pay for those categories would be, respectively: $15.40, $15.71, $16.02 and $16.35. Those with a high school degree would top out at $15.79 an hour, whereas the other categories would, after 11 years, make a maximum of $20.11, $20.51 and $20.92 an hour, respectively.
In Massachusetts, the minimum wage will increase in January to $15 an hour.
Foley said the district isn’t competing with minimum-wage jobs when it comes to hiring paraeducators, though. Some big retailers, for example, are hiring workers at $18 an hour and more. Paying paraeducators what they deserve is beneficial to everyone, she said.
“When teachers are supported, students are more supported,” she said.
Foley said the district has also had teacher vacancies and has fallen behind other districts’ pay for teachers.
As mediation between the two sides moves forward, Foley said the union feels lucky the School Committee is made up of members with educational experience. And she’s hopeful the parties can reach an agreement.
“I hope that through mediation we are able to come to a quick settlement,” Foley said. “I’m hopeful for that.”
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.