The Davenport Education Association unanimously passed a resolution to oppose the outsourcing of Educational Support Professionals (ESPs). The following is the resolution that passed, along with the press release sent Thursday.
RESOLUTION
(Oppose outsourcing of ESP jobs and services)
WHEREAS the Davenport Education Association (DEA) is the recognized bargaining agent for the licensed professional staff who work for the Davenport Community School District (DCSD); and
WHEREAS the DEA values the contributions of the education support professionals (ESP) who make up the DCSD’s employees in the custodial, maintenance, food service, para educator and clerical/secretarial departments and job classifications of the DCSD; and
WHEREAS the DEA believes the DCSD needs to attract and retain the most qualified ESP employees for the delivery of their services to the children and families of the DCSD; and
WHEREAS national surveys consistently show that eighty-five percent (85%) of ESPs intend to stay in their positions as careers; and
WHEREAS these ESPs are dedicated to the safety, health and support for learning of the children upon which they interact; and
WHEREAS ESP employees are not only DCSD employees, they are our neighbors and parents of children in the DCSD and deserve a living wage; and
WHEREAS outsourcing and privatization of ESP services often leads to an unstable workforce of temporary job seekers; and
WHEREAS rotating crews of privatized support-service employees may not have the same level of commitment to DCSD students as career-minded ESP employees hired in-house; and
WHEREAS the primary motivation of the companies offering outsourcing or privatized support services to the DCSD is making a profit and not serving the DCSD’s students or communities.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the DEA does not support and instead opposes any effort to privatize, outsource or contract out any current ESP-provided in-house services or employees within the DCSD.
PRESS RELEASE
DAVENPORT TEACHERS’ UNION OPPOSE OUTSOURCING OF SUPPORT STAFF JOBS
Davenport – The Davenport Education Association (DEA) unanimously passed a resolution opposing a recent proposal to outsource educational support professional (ESP) positions within the Davenport Community School District (DCSD) to private companies. The DCSD is exploring a variety of options to cut millions of dollars from its operating budget over the next five (5) years including outsourcing or privatizing custodial, maintenance, food service, para educator and clerical/secretarial positions within the DCSD.
“The contribution to the education of our children and students by our educational support professionals in our schools is immeasurable,” said Cari Johnson, President of the DEA and a social studies teacher at Davenport Central High School. “It’s not just teachers who teach kids; our support professionals are an integral part of every child’s learning within our schools. They have the same mission as teachers do: provide quality education to all of our students every day. Privatizing or outsourcing their jobs just to save a few dollars is wrong and the DEA strongly opposes such an idea,” said Johnson.
According to the National Education Association (NEA), eighty-five percent (85%) of educational support professionals stay in their positions for the length of their entire careers. Additionally, they tend to live in the same neighborhoods and areas where they are employed, leading to a stronger sense of community than employees in other sectors of the economy. The NEA also contends private companies who are attracted by the opportunity for profit by outsourcing these positions within school districts often do not provide the necessary background checks for employment of their personnel either due to cost controls of their profit margins or lack of updating on required safety protocols in modern-day schools (or both). “When the primary motivator for a company who receives an outsourcing contract in our schools is profit and not serving students, corners get cut to meet the ‘bottom line’ and our students’ safety and services to them suffer as a result,” said Johnson.
The Davenport Education Association (DEA) is the 1,000 member-strong bargaining representative of the teachers and nurses in the Davenport Community School District (DCSD). The DEA is affiliated with the 34,000 member-strong Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) and the 3 million+ member-strong National Education Association (NEA) with affiliates in all fifty (50) states, the District of Columbia and in 14,000 communities across the United States from pre-school to university graduate programs.
For further information, contact:
Toby W. Paone
ISEA UniServ Director
E-mail: tpaone@isea.org
Ph. 563-355-3731 (office)
563-370-3270 (cell)
Davenport Education Association 