OESPA CBLT Summary
February 10, 2010
On Monday, February 8, 2010 ratification ballots relating to salary increases were counted. The results were as follows:
Yes 2, 936 or 95%
No 149 or 5%
As reported in the OCPS “News You Can Use” the average salary increased is 1.35%, however most employees will receive from 0% to 1.44% with most employees receiving the 1.44, depending on your hire date.
Below is the speech OESPA President Bill Humphreys made to the OCPS School Board on Tuesday, February 9, 2010.
Remarks to OCPS School Board
2/9/2010
I am Bill Humphreys, President of the Orange Education Support Professionals Association. 1020 Webster Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32804. I here speaking on behalf of the Union.
Chairperson Cadle, Superintendent Blocker, School Board Members
On your consent agenda this evening you have item 3.02 that includes the ratification of the salary agreement with OEPSA and the School Board for the 2009-2010 School Year. I am here to report to you the results of the ratification vote that concluded yesterday, February 8th.
A total of 3, 085 ballots were cast. This represents almost 40% of the education support professionals who work for Orange County Public Schools. Of the 3, 085 ballots returned, 95% or 2, 936 support professionals voted to accept the negotiated salary agreement while 5% or 149 support professionals voted to reject the negotiated salary agreement.
I do want to take a moment to thank you for providing education support professionals with a wage increase for this year. I understand the pressure you and other school districts around Florida are under to not increase you debt obligations, which include salary increases, this school year.
However I would be remiss as President to not make you aware that while support professionals accepted the proposal offered by the Board they are disappointed about the amount of 1.35%. OESPA is working to help our employees understand how school districts are funded and how that impacts wages and benefits, but that is little comfort to employees who work from pay check to pay check in these economic times. While the financial picture ahead has a number of uncertainties, I want to encourage you to continue to find ways to increase the wages for education support professionals who provide essential support services to this District everyday, services that if they were not provided, I believe, would increase the chances of OCPS NOT remaining an “A” school district.
Education support professionals care about the students we serve everyday and are proud to be part of their educational experience. Let us continue to work together to make sure education support professionals are recognized and compensated for the continued hard work they do. Remember, in most cases, the first person our students see each day and/or the last person our students see each day is an education support professional. How often do we hear about someone saying a person they remember most from their school days was the bus operator who picked them up in the morning or the “lunch lady” who made sure they had a hot meal, or the custodian who was a mentor? These are experiences that can’t be evaluated on a test, but go along way to encourage students when it is time to take those tests.
Again, thank you and let’s keep working together for the students and education support professionals of Orange County Public Schools.