Statement on the 7/21 Board of Ed Vote on the New Classified Salary Schedules

Durham school staff union DAE marches in Raleigh. Image credit: USSW

On Tuesday, the Durham County Board of Education voted to approve the new classified staff salary schedules and raises from the funds that our union members fought so hard to win from DPS and the Durham County Commissioners this spring. We are disappointed that the Board voted 4-3 to rubber-stamp the salary schedules that DPS administration proposed when they had only become available to the public the day before.

These salary schedules provide 5% raises for top-paid administrators downtown, who were already making as much as $13,000/month, while only bringing the minimum wage for DPS workers to $18.22/hour. This leaves DPS out of compliance with its own Living Wage Policy (DPS Board Policy 7600), which requires the district's minimum wage to match the Durham County living wage, currently $19.22/hour. 

We applaud Board members Rivero, Bir, and Bent Kitaif for advocating for more time to get worker and community input on the salary schedules, and to explore all options to ensure that DPS’s lowest-paid staff are getting the highest raise possible with the funds that we won from the county and state.

We also applaud our members who fought hard and won between 4% and 12% raises for all classified staff, no matter their years of experience. In the 26-27 school year, a starting custodian will go from making $16.65/hour to $18.22/hour, and a starting bus safety assistant will go from $17.51/hour to $19.61/hour. This is a step towards a living wage for all DPS workers, and we will keep fighting until all DPS workers have dignified pay and working conditions.

This article was first published by Durham Association of Educators.