Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/74799
Major gains for Paras Instructional and service aides salary schedules for fiscal year 13 (July 1, 2012) Service Aides 2012-13 New 1 $15,895 2 $16,475 3 $16,811 4 $17,148 5 $17,489 6 $17,825 7 $18,161 8 $18,498 9 $18,836 10 $19,173 11 $19,512 12 $19,848 13 $20,183 14 $20,523 15 $20,859 16 $21,195 17 $21,533 18 $21,871 19 $22,208 20 $22,545 21 $22,881 22 $23,187 23 $23,500 24 $23,820 25 $24,145 26 $24,474 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 17,805 $18,535 $19,295 $20,086 $20,934 $21,793 $22,686 $23,632 $24,601 10 $25,610 Current $ Increase 1 $1,910 2 $1,330 3 $1,724 4 $1,387 5 $1,806 6 $1,470 7 $1,134 8 $1,588 9 $1,250 10 $1,761 11 $1,422 12 $1,086 13 $1,610 14 $1,270 15 $1,827 16 $1,491 17 $1,153 18 $1,761 19 $1,424 20 $1,087 21 $1,720 22 $1,414 23 $1,101 24 $1,790 25 $1,465 26 $1,136 % Increase 12.02% 8.07% 10.25% 8.09% 10.33% 8.25% 6.24% 8.58% 6.64% 9.18% 7.29% 5.47% 7.98% 6.19% 8.76% 7.03% 5.35% 8.05% 6.41% 4.82% 7.52% 6.10% 4.69% 7.51% 6.07% 4.64% 1 $18,545 2 $18,955 3 $19,367 4 $19,779 5 $20,193 6 $20,604 7 $21,019 8 $21,431 9 $21,844 10 $22,254 11 $22,667 12 $23,078 13 $23,456 14 $23,829 15 $24,205 16 $24,577 17 $24,956 18 $25,329 19 $25,705 20 $26,078 21 $26,454 22 $26,829 23 $27,212 24 $27,641 25 $28,077 26 $28,521 1 $20,115 2 $21,006 3 $21,937 4 $22,908 5 $23,923 6 $24,983 7 $26,090 8 $27,246 9 $28,453 10 $29,713 New Current $ Increase 1 $1,570 2 $1,160 3 $1,639 4 $1,227 5 $1,744 6 $1,333 7 $1,889 8 $1,477 9 $2,079 10 $1,669 11 $1,256 12 $1,905 13 $1,527 14 $1,154 15 $1,885 16 $1,513 17 $1,134 18 $1,917 19 $1,541 20 $1,168 21 $1,999 22 $1,624 23 $1,241 24 $2,072 25 $1,636 26 $1,192 Instructional Aides 2012-13 % Increase 8.47% 6.12% 8.46% 6.20% 8.64% 6.47% 8.99% 6.89% 9.52% 7.50% 5.54% 8.25% 6.51% 4.84% 7.79% 6.16% 4.54% 7.57% 5.99% 4.48% 7.56% 6.05% 4.56% 7.50% 5.83% 4.18% From 26 steps to ten: Increases range from 4.18% to 12% Salary "compression" a universal union goal top. If you get to the top of the scale in ten years instead of 26 years, you have 16 additional years earning the top wage. With compressed schedules, you C start with a higher salary (you put all the money on the schedule into fewer steps, and in our case, add $750,000 more this year), and you get to the top quicker. The increases between steps in the former 26-step scale range from $330 to $575. The increases from step to step in the compressed schedule for FY13 range from $730 to $1009. And, as mentioned above, the General Assembly's intent is to raise the starting salary of ompressing salary schedules is always better than adding many smaller steps at the Instructional Aides to the poverty level for a family of four (still dis- graceful) over the next four years, as well as to equalize the increases from step to step over the next four years. The very nature of going from a schedule with many fewer steps means that this first year will result in unequal increases. These new schedules realize DSEA's top goal...to compress the current 26-step state schedules into 10 steps. The chart details the for- mer steps and how they are com- pressed into the new ten-step sched- ule. They also show the dollar amount of next year's salary increase and the percentage change for each new step from the previous step. This is the first year of a four-year process Governor and General Assembly must vote each year on the subse- quent changes to reach the other major goal --- raising the starting salary of Instructional Aides (new step 1) to the federal poverty line for a family of four, currently $23,050, in Fiscal Year 16 (July 1, 2015). An agreement to do this over four years was reached to ensure the affordability of this transition both to the state and local school districts. By the end of this four-year process, the third major goal will also be achieved--- equalizing the percentage difference between each step. The intent of this aspect of the agreement also is clear. A comprehensive study of the competitiveness of all Education Support Staff salary schedules in Delaware, commissioned by the General Assembly, is guiding this long-term effort to bring not only paraprofessional salaries, but other non-competitive ESP salaries to more competitive levels. W e want to commend the hard work of so many of our ESP locals who worked over the past five years to bring this goal to fruition. We also want to commend Gov. Jack A. Markell and Lt. Gov. Matt Denn for including the base funding in the Administration's budget this year—a decision that made this change a reality. This was a campaign prom- ise made in 2008, on which they have made good, in spite of the horrible economy in which we have all lived since they took office in January 2009. To send the members of the Joint Finance Committee a message of thanks, you can find their contact information at www. dsea.org/Political Action/JFC.html. www.dsea.org July 2012 DSEA ACTION! 5