Providence Union Head: Bilingual Pay for School Clerks Unfair
Kate Nagle, GoLocal News Editor
Providence Union Head: Bilingual Pay for School Clerks Unfair
"When you talk about diversity, let me start by saying that we are incredibly diverse," said Jo-Anne Micheletti, President of the Local 1339 Clerical Union. "I've got 192 active members, 97 of those are minorities."
"When I first became President, being bilingual was going to supersede seniority, so what we agreed upon was that if you took a class to be conversational in Spanish, you could get $250 for the year. That breaks down to forty-eight cents an hour, " continued Micheletti. "My starting members make $21,000 a year. And we wonder why it's so hard to hire."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"The city just brought on a number of translators at $55,000 a piece. I have no problem with that, they probably deserve more than that," said Micheletti. "But what happens is, when I get clerks being pulled away to help with translation duties, especially the native Spanish speaking clerks, they get pulled into classrooms and pulled away from work."
"I've got 34 positions that are budgeted that they refuse to fill," said Micheletti. "All I hear from schools is, "We have 700 kids and three clerks, we can't meet the need."
Addressing the Need
"And what happens is, when the [Spanish-speaking] clerks get pulled away to translate, the work falls on the other clerks, and it creates an unfair environment for everyone," said Micheletti. "Is there a need for more Spanish speaking people in the school? Absolutely."
Micheletti said that program that the city had years ago "taking women off welfare" to get paid to help in the schools was something she thinks the city should revisit.
"We had the program in place a while back -- it wasn't just for translating, but I'd like to see it used for that now," said Micheletti. "They pay was through community centers, not the schools. It could come from grants. You can get women who want to spend a few hours getting paid, get a sense of what's going on in the schools, get a paycheck."
"We get volunteers now who come in and come help behind the counter -- we don't need that," said Micheletti. "We need them in the halls, with the teachers, helping with translating."
Editor's Note: Micheletti corrected that the Spanish class was not offered last year but can still be offered this year.
The RI High Schools with the Most Absentee Students
#59 Ponaganset High School
Location: Foster and Glocester
Total # Students: 684
% Chronically Absent: 4%
#58 Beacon Charter High School for the Arts
Location: Woonsocket
Total # of Students: 227
% Chronically Absent: 6%
#57 Barrington High School
Location: Barrington
Total # of Students: 1,027
% Chronically Absent: 7%
#56 North Smithfield High School
Location: North Smithfield
Total # of Students: 519
% Chronically Absent: 7 %
#55 Portsmouth High School
Location: Portsmouth
Total # of Students: 960
% Chronically Absent: 8%
#54 East Greenwich High School
Location: East Greenwich
Total # of Students: 729
% Chronically Absent: 9%
#53 Exeter-West Greenwich High School
Location: Exeter and West Greenwich
Total # of Students: 540
% Chronically Absent: 9%
#52 Chariho Regional High School
Location: Charlestown
Total # of Students: 1,201
% Chronically Absent:
#51 Middletown High School
Location: Middletown
Total # of Students: 685
% Chronically Absent: 10%
#50 North Kingstown Senior High School
Location: North Kingstown
Total # of Students: 1,387
% Chronically Absent:11%
#49 Smithfield Senior High School
Location: Smithfield
Total # of Students: 755
% Chronically Absent: 11 %
#48 Westerly High School
Location: Smithfield
Total # of Students: 917
% Chronically Absent: 11%
#47 Block Island School
Location: New Shoreham
Total # of Students: NA
% Chronically Absent: 12%
#46 South Kingstown High School
Location: South Kingstown
Total # of Students: 1,073
% Chronically Absent: 12 %
#45 Tiverton High School
Location: Tiverton
Total # of Students: 1,607
% Chronically Absent: 14%
#44 Coventry High School
Location: Coventry
Total # of Students: 1,607
% Chronically Absent: 14 %
#43 Cumberland High School
Location: Cumberland
Total # of Students: 1,337
% Chronically Absent: 14%
#42 Narragansett High School
Location: Narragansett
Total # of Students: 429
% Chronically Absent: 14%
#41 The Greene School
Location: Exeter
Total # of Students: 162
% Chronically Absent: 15%
#40 Highlander Charter Academy
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: NA
% Chronically Absent: 16%
#39 Burrillville High School
Location: Burrillville
Total # of Students: 682
% Chronically Absent: 18%
#38 Lincoln Senior High School
Location: Lincoln
Total # of Students: 1,005
% Chronically Absent: 18%
#37 Mt. Hope High School
Location: Bristol
Total # of Students: 990
% Chronically Absent:19%
#36 East Providence High School
Location: East Providence
Total # of Students: 1,502
% Chronically Absent: 19%
#35 Paul Cuffee Charter School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: NA
% Chronically Absent: 19%
#34 Times2 Academy
Location: Providence
Total Number of Students: NA
% Chronically Absent: 19%
#33 Academy for Career Exploration
Location: Providence
Total Number of Students: 168
% Chronically Absent: 19%
#32 Scituate High School
Location: Scituate
Total Number of Students: 469
% Chronically Absent: 19%
#31 J.M. Walsh School
Location: Pawtucket
Total number of students: 192
% Chronically Absent: 20%
#30 Classical High School
Location: Providence
Total Number of Students: 1,119
% Chronically Absent: 21%
#29 Toll Gate High School
Location: Wawick
Total # of Students: 958
% Chronically Absent: 21%
#28 West Warwick Senior High School
Location: West Warwick
Total # of Students: 935
% Chronically Absent: 21%
#27 Davies Career and Techinical Center
Location: Lincoln
Total # of Students: 849
% Chronically Absent: 22%
#26 Pilgrim High School
Location: Warwick
Total # of Students: 991
% Chronically Absent: 22%
#25 Johnston Senior High School
Location: Johnston
Total # of Students: 893
% Chronically Absent: 24%
#24 North Providence High School
Location: North Providence
Total # of Students: 969
% Chronically Absent: 26%
#23 Cranston High School East
Location: Cranston
Total # of Students: 1,583
% Chronically Absent: 27%
#22 Warwick Veterans Memorial High School
Location: Warwick
Total # of Students: 910
% Chronically Absent: 27%
#21 RI Nurses Institute
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 266
% Chronically Absent: 29%
#20 Rogers High School
Location: Newport
Total # of Students: 538
% Chronically Absent: 32%
#19 RI School for the Deaf
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: NA
% Chronically Absent: 32%
#18 Tolman Senior High School
Location: Pawtucket
Total # of Students: 1,034
% Chronically Absent: 33%
#17 Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 838
% Chronically Absent: 33%
#16 Cranston High School West
Location: Cranston
Total # of Students:1,526
% Chronically Absent: 33%
#15 Village Green Virtual Charter School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: NA
% Chronically Absent: 39%
#14 E-Cubed Academy
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 349
% Chronically Absent: 39%
#13 Mount Pleasant High School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 898
% Chronically Absent: 39%
#12 Central Falls High School
Location: Central Falls
Total # of Students: 727
% Chronically Absent: 40%
#11 Shea Senior High School
Location: Pawtucket
Total # of Students: 858
% Chronically Absent: 42%
#10 Blackstone Charter Academy
Location: Pawtucket
Total # of Students: 168
% Chronically Absent: 43%
#9 Providence Career and Technical Academy
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 577
% Chronically Absent: 44%
#8 Woonsocket High School
Location: Woonsocket
Total # of Students: 1,579
% Chronically Absent: 47%
#7 Cranston Construction Career Academy
Location: Cranston
Total # of Students:158
% Chronically Absent: 49%
#6 William B. Cooley Senior High School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 617
% Chronically Absent: 50%
#5 Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 486
% Chronicallly Absent: 53%
#4 Central High School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 1,112
% Chronically Absent: 55%
#3 Hope High School
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 894
% Chronically Absent: 55%
#2 Sheila Skip Nowell Leadership Academy (II)
Location: Providence
Total # of Students: 81
% Chronically Absent: 87%
#1 Sheila Skip Nowell Leadership Academy (I)
Location: Central Falls
Total # of Students: 73
% of Chronically Absent: 89%
