Our union got us the tools we needed to do our work right

During the 2015-2016 school year at Chicago Public Schools, Special Education Classroom Assistants (SECA) were instructed to attend a training where they were assigned new documentation tasks as part of their job. SECAs already hold a demanding schedule that requires them to supervise youth including many youth who are Diverse Learners, meaning they require extra support due to different physical or learning abilities. Nearly two years into the new requirement and many SECAs, including our Local 73 members, began having a tough time keeping up with the new documentation requirements because of the already demanding work of a SECA and because they were not given adequate hours nor the adequate tools to accomplish the new work.

Kim Akins knew that she needed to speak up about the tools she needed to best help the youth.

It is not uncommon for a SECA to communicate with parents via phone call, text, or email at various moments in the day. Many parents who cannot take phone calls during work hours will often accept texts or emails, meaning many SECA’s may also have to use their personal devices to communicate with parents. The added documentation tasks meant the SECAs had to do more work requiring technology but with no extra technology devices being offered to them. Local 73 leader Kim Akins realized this was becoming a major problem when she was being pressured to spend less time on her phone because it was believed to be a violation of office rules. She spoke up and explained that she has to communicate with parents who cannot take phone calls and often uses her personal device for work related reasons because she does not have access to other devices.

“They told us our jobs would be at stake if we did not fulfill the added documentation requirements but at the same time our work day and tools were not adjusted for these extra responsibilities. It wasn’t fair.”

After several discussions with her co-workers and after taking this issue up with the school board, in the Spring of this year, the SECAs at her workplace were finally given Chromebooks to use specifically for the documentation requirements.

“I returned to work one day and all 8 of us got our devices to do our tasks. It made us be able to be in compliance with the rules and regulations of the board that originally stopped us from being on our personal devices. Overall it made for a better work environment for all of us.”