While walking through the busy, crowded halls of PVHS, students glaze over the same familiar peers and staff members who have attended the school for years. Taking a closer look at the climate of PVHS, the Spartans seem to have forgotten an essential community within the walls of the school – the Special Education Department’s support staff.
Inspired by her daughter, special needs aide Jodi Mitchell first got into her career 18 years ago. While both of Mitchell’s daughters graduated from PVHS, her youngest has an intellectual disability with severe attention deficit disorder. For Mitchell, it did not make sense to pursue a career related to her business degree when the entirety of her income would be put towards child care. With this in mind, Mitchell started a new path.
Mitchell clarified that her position entails far more work than just watching students, yet the pay does not seem to reflect the entirety of an aide’s job. “As time has moved on, I feel like [administration] employed aides to work with the students and staff of the building, and aides require a little more consideration for their work; maybe one of those ways could be financially.”
Special education teacher Gina Meadows reflected on the work of diligent aides at PVHS. “We expect [aides] to be patient and kind, but it’s hard because we work with challenging students. [All of our students] have unique needs and we need to make sure we are meeting their needs. [Aides] are just an integral part of what we do,” she shared.
“I don’t know that it’s always acknowledged or seen, but I consider them my equal. I have utmost respect for what they do and I know they are in the trenches day in and day out, and they’re positive and ready to go when they come in – and that isn’t always highlighted or featured,” Meadows continued. “Without [aides], the program will suffer. So, I think they need to be valued and feel valued – not only by the case manager, but also by the district.”
Always present, aides come across as a source of help in every class, yet students often refer to them as “helpers.” The nickname entirely neglects the emotional and physical toll the position demands. “I absolutely love my job but it is getting harder and harder to justify working when I don’t get benefits and am a single mom,” shared aide Allyson Schmidt. “When we found out we were getting a pay increase, we were so excited…until we found out how much it was and then we were like…okay.”
Speaking on behalf of the special education staff, Mitchell reflected on the insufficient pay in PV’s support staff. In Mitchell’s case, she started off her profession with an hourly pay of $13. With the addition of a mere 25 to 30 cent longevity pay raise [or an annual increase for years of service] every two years, Mitchell’s pay now stands at $15.60 after 18 years in the district; new hires in the same department now start with a $15.26 pay per hour.
Mitchell’s 18 years worth of raises as a loyal PV employee now have her making 34 cents more than new hires in her same position.
While $15 may seem like a standard pay wage, senior Brady Adams was recently employed as a high school student with similar pay as a college-educated adult. “I work at Kwik Star and our starting pay is $15 an hour and it goes up after time. I think it is unfair that a senior in high school without a college degree is getting paid the same as the special education aides,” he shared.
On March 18, the PVCSD Board of Education passed a $1.25 bonus to special needs aides across the district. “This job works for me and my family, and you just take [longevity] and smile – or in some cases laugh,” Mitchell said. “And I am not the only one – everything I say is based on the fact that I believe it’s a financial need that should be fixed for everybody.”
Mitchell approached superintendent Brian Strusz at the beginning of the school year, asking for the payscale to be closely examined. While she appreciated his sentiment that the paperwork was being looked through, the PVHS aides began a conversation on the lack of true action being taken. Mitchell added that the aides have been working on additional paperwork to be a part of the bargaining unit, which would allow aides to be included in the education association.
Being part of such an organization would help the aides to better negotiate their pay like neighboring districts. “We say this because other surrounding districts pay their aides a good bit more money,” Mitchell said. Bettendorf and Davenport schools are among the many districts that have an incomparable special education pay, some even starting their aides at $5 more per hour. Oftentimes, the work of the support staff is overlooked.
Mitchell discussed the laborious work of aides on a daily basis; not only do aides support students academically and educationally, but they also must have an understanding of various high school-level courses. “I am helping out in history, English, math and science this year, but I have to have a working knowledge of a lot of the basic skills of all of the high school classes to be able to successfully support the special education students. [Aides] are looking towards the students’ next steps. Even special education students have to consider the next step after high school – is it a job? Are we supporting them enough socially so they can understand how to be in this world?”
Mitchell’s 23-year-old daughter has a job in the kitchen at the Trinity Hospital. Mitchell attributes her daughter’s ability to gain the skills to take on this position to the supportive staff at PV. Not only does her daughter work the job, but she also rides the bus to work and purchases her own bus tickets despite her disability. With knowledge of past success within the PV Special Education Department, Mitchell highlighted the need to respect and give more benefits to the support staff who helped make that success possible.
While the special education staff across the PVCSD appreciates the time and effort put into the much delayed bonus, they anticipate the new steps being taken will work towards a more satisfactory pay for PV aides.
Kora Ruff • Apr 14, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Wow, what an awesome eye-opening article. This brings great awareness to the insufficient pay wage that the special needs aides receive. They are the hidden heroes of the school and the incorporation of their thoughts and perspective was very informative.