The core issue about Kelly Services taking over the assignment of substitute teachers in Santa Fe is that of a living wage. Because SFPS hasn’t provided a living wage for subs in the past, there has been a chronic sub shortage.
Now that Kelly Services has taken over the assignment of subs, the Living Wage ordinance in Santa Fe applies, and those subs with a high school diploma will now receive $60 a day, rather than the $55 provided for in the initial contract. This is a back-door approach to solving the problem, and at a large cost.
It’s estimated that SFPS will be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to Kelly Services just to administer the program. And this means a living wage that could have gone directly to subs, now goes into Kelly’s pockets.
We support $85 a day for subs with college degrees and $70 for subs with high school diplomas. It’s time that SFPS come to terms with an issue that affects everyone: administrators, teachers, educational support personnel, students, and the community.
Subs with a college degree will be getting $65 a day, while subs with no degree will receive $60. This isn’t solving the problem of a living wage. It’s only making it worse because the injustice is only compounded.
We don’t know how many substitutes with a college degree are refusing to sign up with Kelly, but two have posted on this web site so far. Because subs have no protections and no due process rights, at least two other subs have posted using the anonymous feature for posting.
It’s an injustice that there’s only a $5 differential between subs with a high school degree and subs with a degree. This means there is more of an incentive for high school grads to substitute in the district’s public schools. Subs with college degrees appear to be looking for employment elsewhere.
If you believe SFPS should end the contract with Kelly Services at the end of the two-month trial period, post your comments here. NEA-Santa Fe has gone on record to oppose the extension of the contract with Kelly Services.
If you missed the initial announcement in the Santa Fe New Mexican about Kelly Services taking over the assignment of substitute teachers for Santa Fe Public Schools, go to:
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/10945.html
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