8 • December 2, 2009
Raise Continued from Page 7
The group bases its request on data collected by the national Living Wage campaign, which has estimated the cost of living in the Lake Washington School District at about $4,000 per month. And according to its calculations, a Lake Washington secretary or office assistant would need to make between $23.05 and $24.55 per hour to be a functioning member of the
“We want to be able to live in this community.” – Becky Whelchel, Office manager – community. “I just think I’m worth more money,” said Becky Whelchel, office manager at Inglewood Junior High School. “We want to be able to live in this community.” She said she’s one of the lucky ones. Her husband makes a good living and they are able to support their daughter. But many of her co-workers and counterparts at other district
SAMMAMISH REVIEW
schools, who are single with children, struggle on their current wages. Some hold down another job or two, she said. “The district says to us, ‘we’ll give you what we gave everybody else,’” Whelchel said. “I wish they felt we deserved more.” More may be tough to find. State funding, which makes up the lion’s share of the school budget is already down, and state officials recently predicted that next year’s state budget will be another $2 billion short. Some school officials say that even cost-of-living adjustments may not be in the cards. “We are concerned about the potential for another round of major budget cuts from the state after the Nov. 19 announcement on the state budget shortfall,” said Kathryn Reith, the district’s director of communications. Under the current contract in Lake Washington, union secretaries make from $13.53 per hour to $20.80 per hour. In the Issaquah School District, school secretaries and support staff start at $15.34 and earn as much as $19.95 per hour. In Bellevue, employees in those positions make between $13.13 and $19.63 per hour. Administrative secretaries and
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assistants make more in all three districts, but are not on the same contract, according to the districts. As talks stall and the parties try to find a middle ground, Lake Washington officials are comparing wages for similar positions in districts in the area and of similar size, Reith said. “As with any of the bargaining groups we work with, our approach to negotiations is to investigate what the wages are for similar positions in other
“We are concerned about the potential for another round of major budget cuts from the state.” – Kathryn Reith, District spokeswoman – area school districts and use that information to help us figure out what will be a competitive wage that will enable us to recruit and retain quality employees.” Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com Comment on this story at www.SammamishReview.com.
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tough times. It also featured an extensive online component, which linked people with such services, reference materials, books and databases. “It was mostly to help our patrons,” Iverson said. “We’re here and we work to provide the resources we’ve always had. “Our librarians recognized a need and they were profoundly determined to help,” she said. The library system’s public and community relations team recently won a national award for the outreach program. They were given the NonProfit PR award, sponsored by PR News, in Washington D.C. Nov. 2. The library system also recently received $50,000 in grant funding to develop and launch an online resource center to help struggling and small business owners and entrepreneurs, which will make the libraries’ resources even more accessible. The new site, InfoBiz, will offer streaming videos, tutorials and podcasts at the convenience of users. Those include detailing business strategies, resources and concepts presented by local busi-
ness experts, according to a press release. The project is a partnership between community agencies providing content and the library system. Librarians will organize ondemand videos that will be more convenient for users, allowing them to view subjects when and where they choose. Topics for the InfoBiz site will be selected in consultation with organizational partners and the reference librarians working on the project. Topics for consideration include: ◆ How to create a business plan. ◆ How to find and keep customers in hard times. ◆ Collection strategies for small business. ◆ How to fund a start-up. ◆ How to utilize library materials for market research. ◆ Marketing a small business through online social networking. ◆ Introductory pieces about how various partner agencies can assist small businesses. Librarians will also create online videos and tutorials to teach small business owners to use the library’s resources to help their businesses succeed. By making useful information easily accessible online at any time, InfoBiz will resolve a variety of obstacles and connect small business owners with the assistance they need. InfoBiz was created with funding from the Washington State Library as part of the Renew Washington Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “As people find new needs, we’re able to find more ways to help them use the library,” Iverson said. “We want to take the search out of research.” Reporter Chantelle Lusebrink can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com.