Do you earn enough money to pay for rent, food, health care, transportation, utilities, taxes and child care? In other words, do you earn a living wage? Across Idaho, many Education Support Professionals (ESPs) and teachers are forced onto public assistance or hold multiple jobs because public schools do not provide adequate wages. Many education employees, especially ESPs, cannot afford basic necessities because they do not make a living wage.

Recently, approximately 35 ESP and teacher members from the Meridian Education Association (MEA) and Boise Education Association (BEA) attended a training session to learn how to implement a “Living Wage Campaign.”

The first step in organizing the campaign is to gather stories from education employees who do not earn a living wage. What is your story? It is time to share our difficulties and sacrifices so we can work together to guarantee living wages for all education employees. Send us your stories.

To learn more about the MEA’s “Living Wage Campaign,” contact Jeanne Taylor or Tawni Berryman-Hull.