Statement on the June 8th Durham County Budget Vote

Last night, the Durham County Commissioners voted on their budget for next year. While the county and DPS found an additional $5.3 million for classified pay raises in response to worker pressure, we are disappointed with the lack of commitment to fully fund a 12% raise this year. The county chose to raise taxes in order to buy new sheriff vehicles instead of bringing all DPS workers up to a minimum of $19.22 per hour – the minimum wage for all other Durham County workers and the County Manager's published living wage from three years ago.

The Durham County Manager's original budget proposal only funded the state-mandated 3% raises for classified staff. But DPS classified workers continued to fight over the past month by sharing their stories through our Living Wage Town Hall, public comments at the Budget Hearing, and meetings with Commissioners. They shared that DPS workers are facing bankruptcy, having to decide which bills to prioritize each month, and skipping necessary medical care because it's too expensive.

Due to this organizing, the county committed an additional $2.65 million to be matched by DPS, totaling $5.3 million more for classified pay raises. The county stated that this would bring the DPS minimum wage up to $18.22 per hour – about a 6% average raise for classified workers.

We applaud the efforts of all DAE members, leaders, and allies who fought tirelessly for ourselves and our students, but the fight isn't over. DPS recently revealed that they have been paying some staff only $16.65 per hour, lower than their reported minimum wage of $17.15 per hour.

DPS must use the county funding voted on last night to give the highest possible raises to the classified workers that drive our buses, clean our schools, feed our kids, and keep them safe – not the highest paid central office administrators who already make four times as much as a starting classified worker. We will continue to advocate this summer to ensure that this happens.

This article was first published by the Durham Association of Educators.