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Letters to the Editor: East Rockaway, Lynbrook

July 30-Aug. 5, 2015

Posted

Exodus of educators?

To the Editor:
The governor would have fast food workers making $15 an hour now. That’s good if you work at McDonald’s — but there are varying accounts about what may happen to businesses that already pay higher salaries.
I’m sure that it’s a tactic to buy votes. While the governor pretends to care about the underprivileged, we must examine what the reality of higher wages is outside the fast -food arena.

As the dad of an autistic son, I marvel at teachers and care providers that help him get closer to a normal life. They do an impossible job that has many challenges. I hold their jobs as one of the noblest of careers, placing them on a pedestal with doctors and first responders. The exception is they are the lowest compensated.
Teaching assistants in private schools can have a starting salary as low as $9.50 an hour. Many haven’t had a raise in six years. The decision to freeze their salaries isn’t made by employers, but rather by the governor. The New York State Education Department has made a recommendation that these salaries be increased, and to date, the Division of Budget has not implemented these changes.
An increase in wages to fast food workers, without boosting the salaries of the caregivers to some of the weakest of our population, will be devastating to the autism community. There will surely be an exodus of qualified staff. People with special needs will go without adequate services, while their caregivers leave the field to sharpen their skills by saying, “Wanna supersize that?”
The governor must let the NYSED change the pay rate method so that schools can provide decent wages to those who take care of our disabled population. The alternative is unthinkable: a generation of individuals who cannot fend for themselves, and who will require a more intense level of care in life later on, costing the taxpayer even more in the long run.

Stephen D. Wangel
Board of Directors member
Developmental Disabilities Institute,
Lynbrook