I highly recommend getting involved in your school union!   I'm from a very small PK-8 district (530 students) but I'm in my 6th year as President of my union because I think it is vitally important that special education is represented. When I hear people say "They don't do anything for me" it is incredibly frustrating because THEY is YOU.  If we don't go to meetings and know how things are going, or even negotiate for our bargaining agreements, it sure will be a lot more difficult for others to see what our needs are, what our working conditions are and what we need to help students be successful. It is also a way to help increase pay or at least understand why the payscale is where it is at.  In Montana, the larger union needs WAY more educating about special education in general, and I'm working on that, too.  We are going to lose a lot more SpEd people and SLPs if we don't advocate for better.    :)  NOthing new. Just a little mid-week soap box.   Happy Hump Day!

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Shelby Midboe
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I agree…if you have a union…get involved. I was Secretary, building rep, Vice President and chairman of negotiations (I did negotiations for 12 years as chair). Learning about your district needs, the funding, and being a presence yourselves can only benefit the SLPs in your district.

Also adding, there are lots of things that benefit ALL folks working in the schools…those working conditions…and these can be negotiated into contracts in some states. We had provisions in our contract for the length of the workday, summer compensation (which was an hourly rate based on the SLP per diem because of the need for licensure), what could be asked of you absolutely and what was considered volunteer and could be refused, compensation for giving up your planning period to work with student, adequate room with locked storage for personal items, how transfers to different schools/grade levels were handled, money to help fund registration for attending one conference a year, etc. These benefited everyone.

In my many years of experience, more people left jobs in my neck of the woods because the working conditions were not tolerable than because of salary (disclaimer, our district paid well).

Shelley

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