Members mobilize over union issues
In Calvert County …
When members of the Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff heard about the district's request for contract bids for the county's employee-staffed Before and After Care Program, they took immediate action.
This week, member activists protested in front of the Board of Education while CAESS President Steven Brooks, MSTA President Clara Floyd and Calvert Education Association President Deborah Russ explained the consequences of privatization on students, staff and schools. CAESS also distributed fliers throughout the community. “They want to find a cheaper way of providing this care. Cheaper means not paying trusted people good wages and benefits!” the flier exclaimed.
CAESS got news of the district's plan through the county rumor mill, which, says President Brooks, undermined the relationship between CAESS and the Board. “This is not the way to continue the partnership we have fostered and built with the Calvert County Public Schools. We look forward, as a union, to continue discussions to stop this proposal and protect our members' jobs and benefits,” Brooks said.
Read CAESS President Steven Brooks's
testimony to the Calvert Board of Education >>
Read MSTA President Clara Floyd's
testimony to the Calvert Board of Education >>
Read CEA President Deborah Russ's testimony
to the Calvert Board of Education >>
CAESS members protest Board efforts to privatize.
CAESS President Steve Brooks listens as MSTA President Clara Floyd speaks on the issue of privatization.
“Outsourcing in education has been felt the hardest among support services such as transportation, food service, and building and ground maintenance. We believe this practice to be a corporate takeover of the public school system that poses a great threat in three specific areas: quality, accountability and the well being of our children,” said Floyd.
