{"id":12138,"date":"2024-05-29T14:04:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T14:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=12138"},"modified":"2024-05-29T14:05:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T14:05:23","slug":"sign-language-interpreters-in-durham-schools-plea-for-better-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/05\/29\/sign-language-interpreters-in-durham-schools-plea-for-better-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Sign-language interpreters in Durham schools plea for better pay"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sign-language interpreters in the Durham schools demanded better pay during a school board meeting on Thursday. Meanwhile, dozens of Durham Association of Educators members and supporters called on the board to recognize the union and give it a stronger role in the planning process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The comments by staff who serve deaf students came after department members called in sick on Thursday to protest insufficient pay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the district\u2019s salary debacle, sign-language interpreters \u201cnow earn an average of $932 less per month than we were promised in October of 2023,\u201d said interpreter Sarah Leonard, reading from a letter from the staff to the board.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDue to this change, many of us are contemplating leaving the district in order to support ourselves and our families with community positions that pay significantly more. If we are forced to leave, the district will find itself in a precarious position, both financially and legally,\u201d Leonard continued.<\/span><\/p>\n Other DPS staff also spoke about salary issues at the meeting. Christie Clem, a DAE member and physical therapist, called for more transparency about future pay rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe classified pay crisis caused employees to leave and destroyed our trust not only with the board but also with administration,\u201d she said. \u201cClassified employees don\u2019t feel any better now than we did in January.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Interim Superintendent Catty Moore said the district hopes to release individual salary projections for the next school year by the end of this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Clem was among more than 35 individuals who turned out to advocate for the Durham Association of Educators on Thursday. The advocates, many wearing DAE T-shirts and carrying homemade signs, called on the board to formally recognize the union and to establish a \u201cformal meet and confer policy\u201d by the start of the upcoming school year.<\/span><\/p>\n Representatives from nine other unions \u2014 including the Union of Southern Service Workers, the Duke Graduates Students Union, and National Nurses United \u2014 spoke out in solidarity with the DAE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DAE President Symone Kiddoo laid out a clear timeline for the board.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf the board is not ready to formalize union recognition this year, we can take the summer to do all that we can to get on the same page about this\u2026If, after that, the board does not pass a standard union recognition policy at or near the start of the school year, we will have to spend the next year at loggerheads as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n North Carolina is among the few states where public-sector employees are prohibited from engaging in collective bargaining. DAE<\/span> views<\/span><\/a> meet and confer as an \u201calternative framework for honoring workers\u2019 rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n