news-record.com

A proposal to pay Guilford County Schools bus drivers, custodians and teacher assistants a "living wage" does not appear to be high on the priority list of the Board of Education.

Should paying a "living wage" be looked at seriously? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

School board member Deena Hayes recently asked the schools staff to look at the issue of increasing what the district pays cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians and teacher assistants.

The starting wage now is $10.06 an hour, and some employees must work years at their job before ever meeting $11 an hour.

Raising the hourly wage of the district's lowest-paid workers to $12.40 would benefit more than 2,000 people — and cost an additional $4.9 million per year.

"I can tell you right now that I think it's a hoot," said member Garth Hébert. "We'll be lucky to give teachers raises to (match) the state."

The $12.40 wage is based on federal estimates of the full-time salary needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the Greensboro-High Point metropolitan area.

Nancy Routh said fellow school board members will need to look at all the pieces of the salary increase to make sure it can be accommodated in the budget and carried out equitably.

"Whenever you improve conditions for one group, you have another group that says we haven't improved conditions for them," Routh said.

The district just last year took a step to appease frustrated maintenance workers who were getting paid different amounts despite having the same amount of experience.

In addition, board members might wait for the state to take action, Routh said. Gov. Mike Easley has proposed a 7 percent salary increase for teachers, and both a 1.5 percent cost of living increase and a one-time $1,000 bonus for other state workers, including classified school employees.

Classified workers also received a 4 percent increase last year.

State Rep. Alma Adams of Guilford County said she plans to resubmit a bill that would place teacher assistants on a salary schedule instead of a salary range.

Teacher assistants in North Carolina are paid $18,208 to $29,288 for 10 months of work. Adams' bill would change their pay to between $17,598 and $29,918 for the 2008-09 academic year.

Those changes, however, would have a big impact on the schools' budget: an annual cost of $29.6 million.

"We're working on trying to refine some things," Adams said this week. "It's on my list of things that I'm doing."

Donna Stepp, a teacher assistant and member of the Guilford County Association of Educators, supports paying employees at least $12.40 per hour.

"I would like for Guilford County to take the initiative," Stepp said. "I feel like if they did, other systems would fall in."

But Routh said the board will need to focus first on meeting its basic needs, such as rising energy costs and teacher salaries. As in years past, county commissioners have indicated that they will not fully fund the district's request.

"Right now, where we go from here is to go down all those items again ... and say these are the things we absolutely have to do," she said. "We know that the extra dollars aren't out there hanging on the trees waiting for us to pluck them off."

Hébert dismissed the proposal, saying he is more interested in trimming the budget.

"We do not have a mandate to improve the living conditions and economics of the community," he said. "If it's a byproduct, that's wonderful."

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey @news-record.com