A Day with Mrs. D
Bookkeeper, lunch lady, classroom aide, and crossing guard — it takes four different jobs to put together a single living wage.
By Mary Ellen Flannery and Rebecca Logan
Deb De Grave, an education support professional in the northern Wisconsin village of Denmark, punches four different timecards each day. From breakfast to lunch duty, account-keeping to classroom-assisting, she rushes from school to school, job to job.
She loves each one, but she needs each one, too, to make any kind of living. Even after 20-plus years, a classroom aide here can’t expect much more than $12,000 a year. View the slideshow below for a glimpse of De Grave's typical workday.
COMMENTS:
1 - 10 out of 41 Comments | Add your comment
10/01/09 - DORIS from Wisconsin
I am just impressed that the same problems are happening all over the state. I know Para who also work 3-4 jobs to make ends meet. I am proud to be a Para we had at our own expense get the 48 credits to make us highly qualified after working in the same position for 16 years. We bear the low wages to get health care even though it is very costly. We can finally retire because we now get credit for working a full year before we had to work 40 years to get 20 years for retirement it is not retro but it will make it fair for the new para coming into this profession. Now we are asking to be able to recieve unemployment during the summer months. When we return to our positions the next school year it still takes almost a month to recieve a full check. This is unfair.
I am just impressed that the same problems are happening all over the state. I know Para who also work 3-4 jobs to make ends meet. I am proud to be a Para we had at our own expense get the 48 credits to make us highly qualified after working in the same position for 16 years. We bear the low wages to get health care even though it is very costly. We can finally retire because we now get credit for working a full year before we had to work 40 years to get 20 years for retirement it is not retro but it will make it fair for the new para coming into this profession. Now we are asking to be able to recieve unemployment during the summer months. When we return to our positions the next school year it still takes almost a month to recieve a full check. This is unfair.
09/26/09 - Mrs.B
I have been a school bus driver in Maryland for 13 years and obtained a para job approx. 4 yrs ago working as a cafeteria lady (cook, server, cashier etc...) Like Mrs. D, I am approached by many,many students all over town because I have known these students since pre-k. I enjoy my job and I am certainly gratful to be employed. However, I am frustrated with the school board system were I am employed. Fortunely, one of my benefits include tuition reimbursment. I have obtained an AA in Business Administration with high honors (GPA 3.94). Currently I am 12 credits away from having an AAS in Accounting and Business. Since I have obtained my first degree (2004), I have applied for most every job opening within the board that come available. I go to the interview (that seems to go rather well), but alway receive a letter saying that although they were impressed, they have chosen another canidate. Being nosey, I check out who they have hired and usually find out it is a friend of a friend, family member etc... Frustrated, I will finish my degrees and take the tools they have paid for to another establishment. What a waste of school resources.
I have been a school bus driver in Maryland for 13 years and obtained a para job approx. 4 yrs ago working as a cafeteria lady (cook, server, cashier etc...) Like Mrs. D, I am approached by many,many students all over town because I have known these students since pre-k. I enjoy my job and I am certainly gratful to be employed. However, I am frustrated with the school board system were I am employed. Fortunely, one of my benefits include tuition reimbursment. I have obtained an AA in Business Administration with high honors (GPA 3.94). Currently I am 12 credits away from having an AAS in Accounting and Business. Since I have obtained my first degree (2004), I have applied for most every job opening within the board that come available. I go to the interview (that seems to go rather well), but alway receive a letter saying that although they were impressed, they have chosen another canidate. Being nosey, I check out who they have hired and usually find out it is a friend of a friend, family member etc... Frustrated, I will finish my degrees and take the tools they have paid for to another establishment. What a waste of school resources.
09/26/09 - Mrs. R.
God Bless You, Mrs.D! Just keep doing the great job(s)that you are doing! There will always be critics! Maybe they are jealous. You will receive your reward & they will also :)
God Bless You, Mrs.D! Just keep doing the great job(s)that you are doing! There will always be critics! Maybe they are jealous. You will receive your reward & they will also :)
09/25/09 - LittleTownMassPara
WOW yous guyses are wikid bad spellas. hope you don't lern the kids some gramma an spelin like that. I'm a para, terrible at spelling and not afraid to use a dictionary. We ARE teachers, nurses, janitors, nose & butt wipers, punching bags, etc. We've got 20 bosses and we're at the bottom of the pay scale. Appreciate us. Next time you administrators and teachers want to show your appreciation for all our hard work, we'd love a free lunch, gift card or the like. (No books, we know where to find one of those.) Thank you to those who do appreciate us. Let's get some new blood in our State House too, pay attention people, we've been led by a majority of one political party for years and it's only got us in worse financial shape all around. We invest our hearts and souls into our students only to leave them with a world of debt and instability. Wake up---and better say your prayers!!
WOW yous guyses are wikid bad spellas. hope you don't lern the kids some gramma an spelin like that. I'm a para, terrible at spelling and not afraid to use a dictionary. We ARE teachers, nurses, janitors, nose & butt wipers, punching bags, etc. We've got 20 bosses and we're at the bottom of the pay scale. Appreciate us. Next time you administrators and teachers want to show your appreciation for all our hard work, we'd love a free lunch, gift card or the like. (No books, we know where to find one of those.) Thank you to those who do appreciate us. Let's get some new blood in our State House too, pay attention people, we've been led by a majority of one political party for years and it's only got us in worse financial shape all around. We invest our hearts and souls into our students only to leave them with a world of debt and instability. Wake up---and better say your prayers!!
09/25/09 - Mrs. W
Bottom line it is a tough job market--I am a certified teacher with a masters and one year of classroom experience and many years experience working with children--I took a para job just to have a job! I pray that I will eventually get a teaching job. But our district opened a new school without hiring new teachers. Bottom line we all are working very hard. Even though I love my job it is going to be hard to pay the bills. We need to support each other.
Bottom line it is a tough job market--I am a certified teacher with a masters and one year of classroom experience and many years experience working with children--I took a para job just to have a job! I pray that I will eventually get a teaching job. But our district opened a new school without hiring new teachers. Bottom line we all are working very hard. Even though I love my job it is going to be hard to pay the bills. We need to support each other.
09/25/09 - Ms. M
I would really like to know why a substitute teacher in our district gets paid a certain amount pet day, yet when no sub is available, the principal/ district had no problem having a para take over the class, paying us our normal sad hourly wage. Where is this fair. Also there are paras that work in my district with specialized training in different areas of support. I'm talking about skills that the teachers don't have - ex. sign language. The district is making out really well on these paras. They certainly do not pay them what a person with their skills could command in a different job setting. Wouldn't it be nice if we were paid what we are worth. Sure we all love the kids or we wouldn't be workingvwith them, but we deserve to make a living also and not have to work for below poverty level wages. I think a lot of us are being taken advantage of.
I would really like to know why a substitute teacher in our district gets paid a certain amount pet day, yet when no sub is available, the principal/ district had no problem having a para take over the class, paying us our normal sad hourly wage. Where is this fair. Also there are paras that work in my district with specialized training in different areas of support. I'm talking about skills that the teachers don't have - ex. sign language. The district is making out really well on these paras. They certainly do not pay them what a person with their skills could command in a different job setting. Wouldn't it be nice if we were paid what we are worth. Sure we all love the kids or we wouldn't be workingvwith them, but we deserve to make a living also and not have to work for below poverty level wages. I think a lot of us are being taken advantage of.
09/25/09 - Carol N. McKinstry
This is my way of life! I am a Certified and Re-Certified Mass. teacher (grades K-6) but can't seem to find a permanent position so I'm the Permanent Sub, I teach piano after school and I work part time at the local library and Old Sturbridge Village. I feel like I'm always at work somewhere.
This is my way of life! I am a Certified and Re-Certified Mass. teacher (grades K-6) but can't seem to find a permanent position so I'm the Permanent Sub, I teach piano after school and I work part time at the local library and Old Sturbridge Village. I feel like I'm always at work somewhere.
09/25/09 - jw
In my school district, employees cannot hold more than one job because the Central Office is afraid of having to pay overtime if they go over 40 hrs.
In my school district, employees cannot hold more than one job because the Central Office is afraid of having to pay overtime if they go over 40 hrs.
09/25/09 - Mrs.C
I'm a para in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and have been in the high school for 16 years. I am mostly in technology classes with my students (a graduation requirement) trying to keep them up with the rest of the class (PowerPoint and Excel). The average class size is 30 students. I also help the other students in the class if I have time. We pay 50% of our benefits here and because healthcare has risen so drastically, my net pay is now less than my deductions. I know I should be happy to have health insurance some of you will say. I should also be bringing home more money than I was when I started my job. I love working with the students and more than one has told me if it wasn't for me they wouldn't have gotten through high school. I just want to be treated fairly.
I'm a para in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and have been in the high school for 16 years. I am mostly in technology classes with my students (a graduation requirement) trying to keep them up with the rest of the class (PowerPoint and Excel). The average class size is 30 students. I also help the other students in the class if I have time. We pay 50% of our benefits here and because healthcare has risen so drastically, my net pay is now less than my deductions. I know I should be happy to have health insurance some of you will say. I should also be bringing home more money than I was when I started my job. I love working with the students and more than one has told me if it wasn't for me they wouldn't have gotten through high school. I just want to be treated fairly.
09/25/09 - Para-educator by choice
To Ms. S who feels a degree in hand is what distinguishes the teacher from a para-educator, I feel sorry for you. I have a degee yet not recognized in this country therefore I chose to teach children as a para-educator. As someone said, "it takes a village to raise a child", and if left up to teachers alone, our world would be in a dire state of affairs. Accept your role in life, and deal with it. Make everyday the best for your students, as their life outside of your classroom may be drastically different. Oh, and one more thing, let's get a living wage, not a teacher's salary, for those most deserving para-educators.
To Ms. S who feels a degree in hand is what distinguishes the teacher from a para-educator, I feel sorry for you. I have a degee yet not recognized in this country therefore I chose to teach children as a para-educator. As someone said, "it takes a village to raise a child", and if left up to teachers alone, our world would be in a dire state of affairs. Accept your role in life, and deal with it. Make everyday the best for your students, as their life outside of your classroom may be drastically different. Oh, and one more thing, let's get a living wage, not a teacher's salary, for those most deserving para-educators.
Most Recent | Next 10 Comments
LEAVE A COMMENT
Video
Why Money Matters
Lack of professional pay shortchanges our schools.
SHARE AND DISCUSS
One, two, or three jobs?
Do you work multiple jobs to make ends meet? Share your story.
RELATED ITEMS
