School Nurse Pay Equity News
(August 2001)
On January 18, 2001, a hearing was held in Suffolk Superior Court on the Massachusetts Department of Education's Motion to Dismiss the suit filed by MSNO (Ann L. Greenbaum et. al. vs. Mass. Department of Education, et. al.) Unfortunately, Judge Thayer Freemont-Smith's opinion supported the Department of Education's Motion to Dismiss.
We are now in the appeal process. Attorney Rossman filed an intent to appeal. The brief is due in mid-September. It is prepared and will be filed in a timely manner. We must now be patient again and wait for the next step in the legal process.
Attention: School Nurses!
Pay Equity Survey
We are attempting to form a list of districts which include pay equity for their school nurses. MSNO is frequently asked which districts have pay equity, especially for those who are entering bargaining.
So, if you are fortunate to have pay equity for the school nurses, please e-mail either Barbara Connolly at her msno.org e-mail address or cobbett@msno.org. Please be clear:
- Do you have full equity with all other professional staff?
- Do you have a separate pay scale for nurses, but one which gives pay equity?
- Do you have a partial equity, working towards full?
- Do you have a means for inclusion of diploma grads, in pay equity?
- If so, must they be certified or can they be "certification exempt"?
This information will be helpful. Be patient if you are searching for specifics for your district, though. It will take us volunteers a bit of time to compile this information so that it can be useful to everyone. But it will only be of use if YOU send us your information to start!
School Nurse Pay Equity Lawsuit Filed
July 25, 2000
On July 25, 2000, a lawsuit was filed in Suffolk County Superior Court by Attorney Neil Rossman. Civil Action No. #00-3348-F.
The named plaintiffs are:
The Massachusetts School Nurse Organization, Inc.
Ann Borges: Blackstone-Millville School District
Roberta Cobbett: Swampscott Public Schools
Barbara Connolly: New Bedford Public Schools
Janice DiFillipo: Central Berkshire Regional School District
Ann Greenbaum: Swampscott Public Schools
Kathleen Larson: Mount Greylock School Union
Maureen Saunders: Duxbury Public Schools
Joan Scheid: Berlin/Boylston School District
Louise Chase Thurston: Westford Public Schools
The legal system moves slowly, and we will have to be patient as the case progresses. We will keep you informed on this MSNO web site of all developments in the lawsuit.
We suggest that you share this information with your colleagues, your local newspapers, cable TV stations, etc. Refer them to Neil Rossman for details of the lawsuit.
Questions for MSNO regarding the lawsuit can be directed to Barbara Connolly or Roberta Cobbett through this MSNO web site.
If you have not yet made your contribution to assist in funding the legal action, please do so now. Checks should be made out to "MSNO Legal Action Fund."
Mail to:
MSNO
c/o Roberta Cobbett
28 Greenwood Terrace
Swampscott, MA. 01907
The following information summarizes the history leading up to this action:
The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 amended the teacher certification act to include school
nurses. The position of "school nurse" in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is now defined by statute. Despite the
fact that since June 1993 school nurse certification requirements are equal to, and in some areas even more rigorous
than, those for teachers and other non-classroom based educational support personnel, most professional school nurses
in Massachusetts are denied compensation equal to other professionals employed by the school system.
It is MSNO's contention that the practice of salary inequities ultimately impacts the quality of health care
delivered to students, since it is difficult to attract and retain school nurses with expertise in critical thinking,
decision making, program management, health education and counseling, program planning, and community outreach, when
competitive salaries are not offered.
Groups of nurses in individual school systems have historically had little success in securing equitable contracts.
Despite the current statewide and national recognition of the positive impact of school nurses on children's health,
the expanded public health role of school nurses, and the need for their professional education, many of Massachusetts'
school nurses report that they continue to feel undervalued, unempowered, and isolated. In spite of their many
attempts to campaign for adequate compensation, comparable to other professionals in the school system, they have
continuously been denied pay equity.
Consequently in September 1997 the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization (MSNO) formed a "Pay Equity Committee"
and began a statewide effort to address the problem of school nurse salary inequities.
In January 1998 MSNO conducted a statewide survey that confirmed that only a small minority of the school districts in
the Commonwealth pay school nurses on the same pay scale as their professional counterparts with equal educational and
certification requirements. (The survey report, entitled Report on the Current State of Salary Inequities for
Professional School Nurses in Massachusetts, is available from MSNO.) The vast majority of school nurses in
Massachusetts are significantly under-compensated.
In November 1999 a complaint was filed in Essex County Superior Court. Plaintiffs were Ann Greenbaum, RN and Roberta
Cobbett, RN, school nurses in the Swampscott Public Schools. Defendants were the Chairman of the Swampscott School
Committee, the Superintendent of the Swampscott School Department and the duly elected Swampscott School Committee.
On July 25, 2000 a lawsuit was filed in Suffolk County Superior Court by Attorney Neil Rossman, Civil
Action No. #00-3348-F.
School Nurse Pay Equity Lawsuit
(November 2000)
Submitted by Barbara Connolly
The Massachusetts Attorney General's office is representing the Department of Education in the matter
of the Pay Equity lawsuit. The Assistant Attorney General for Administrative Law is filing a "Motion to Dismiss"
and has submitted this motion to MSNO's attorney, Neil Rossman. Attorney Rossman will submit a response to this motion.
It will be the "Opposition of Plaintiffs to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss." The Motion to Dismiss and the
response will then be filed with the court and will be reviewed by a judge. We will keep you updated on this website as
the legal proceedings unfold.
Newspapers across the state remain interested in doing articles on school nurses generally and on the pay equity
issue in particular. Journalists are very willing to pay attention to nurses. A recently published book entitled
From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public by Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon
presents a practical guide that provides approaches to increase nurses' visibility and voice in the media. We have
found during this campaign for pay equity that the media is very interested in our issues. Do not be intimidated.
Contact your local newspapers and cable stations to publicize the pay equity issue. We need to be heard and each of
you can make a difference in your area. Please feel free to contact
Barbara Connolly at her msno.org e-mail address or cobbett@msno.org
with questions.
On October 26, 2000 The New Bedford Standard-Times ran an article entitled "School Nurses Keep Busy"
in which they featured the nurses in the Freetown/Lakeville School District.
The South Weekly edition of The Boston Globe on Sunday October 8, 2000 carried a feature article
entitled "School Nurses Demand More Pay." Nurses from Duxbury, Hanover and Freetown/Lakeville were spotlighted.
On October 22, 2000 The Boston Globe published the following letter-to-the-editor, submitted by Barbara
Connolly on behalf of MSNO, in response to comments made in the article by Hanover's superintendent of schools.
Pay Equity for School Nurses
(Letter-to-the Editor)
A book published in 1989 entitled Just a Nurse stated that "the public wants a nurse to be a warm,
caring human being. The intellectual acumen needed to practice professional nursing is rarely understood." This
statement applies to school superintendents and school committees who rarely seem to recognize the role of school nurses
and certainly do not seem to understand the "intellectual acumen" required of these nurses.
The practice of professional nursing by school nurses occurs within the complex and unpredictable setting of the
educational institution, not in a medical facility. A school nurse usually functions as a sole practitioner in her
school. The Comprehensive School Health Manual, published by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in
1995, reminds us that the comprehensive and expanding public health nature of school nursing practice demands an
educational and skill level that enables the school nurse to meet the current health needs of the students and staff.
Why then, do the majority of school districts in the Commonwealth continue to devalue the nursing profession by refusing
to pay nurses on the same salary scale as teachers and other non-classroom based educational
support staff?
It is the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization's contention that the practice of salary inequities ultimately
impacts the quality of health care delivered to students, since it is difficult to attract and retain school nurses with
expertise in critical thinking, decision making, program management, health education and counseling, program planning,
and community outreach, when competitive salaries are not offered.
Pay Equity for School Nurses
Barbara Connolly, RN, MSN
Pay Equity Chairperson
It appears that school districts which deny school nurses pay equity are violating the Education Reform Act's
statement of nondiscrimination. A summary of the issues in the lawsuit are as follows:
- under the Education Reform Act school nurses are required to be certified like all other educational professionals
and to have a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite to certification...
- school nurses are professional educators, as are all other non-classroom based educational support staff...
- under Education Reform school nurses are the legal equal of other certified educators...
- in spite of having to meet the same requirements as classroom teachers pay equity and professional standing are
denied the school nurses...
- salary schedules for school nurses are much lower than all other educational professionals...
Also, the Education Reform Act states (Section 99 of Statutes of 1993, Chapter 71):
"All programs and actions undertaken under the provisions of this act shall be conducted in a manner reflecting
and encouraging a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for members of minority groups and women. All
officials...of any school department...shall take affirmative steps to ensure equality of opportunity in the internal
affairs of such departments...Each school district department...shall adopt measures to ensure equal opportunity in the
areas of hiring, promotion,...rates of compensation and in-service training programs..."
The MSNO Board of Directors has voted to support this legal action to achieve pay equity for school nurses.
More information will be forthcoming to every school nurse in the State regarding how they can lend their encouragement
and financial support to this undertaking.
MSNO Advances with Pay Equity Legal Action
The MSNO Pay Equity Committee wishes to thank all who have contributed to the MSNO Legal Action Fund.
In the short time since we have informed our
membership and other school nurse colleagues of our legal action process and our need for funding this action,
we have raised $17,000. The requested amount to contribute is $50. Individual school nurses' contributions have
ranged from $25 to $1,000. We thank you profoundly! Since we anticipate needing $50,000, we hope that those who
have not yet contributed will do so soon. Everyone's contribution is necessary if this legal action is to
succeed.
We have had a wonderful show of support from local unions, with donations ranging from $50 to $500! The MTA
has been contacted by Linda Salmonsen, requesting that MTA contribute financially, as well as to encourage
the support of the individual locals. NASN's Legal Defense Fund and the Connecticut Association of School Nurses
have also been most generous in contributing to our legal action.
With the filing of this legal suit, the MSNO Pay Equity Committee will post various sample letters that school
nurses may use to request contributions from their local unions and/or friends of school nursing-either private
individuals or organizations which have supported school nurses and school health services.
We will keep you posted as this legal action progresses.
Honor Roll of Contributing Locals
Several local unions have made generous contributions to the MSNO Legal Action Fund, such as Lanesborough, Dighton-Rehoboth, Brookline, Hanover, Westford and Central Berkshire. Ask your local if they have contributed. Show them the information on this website or in your newsletter which describes the Pay Equity lawsuit. Ask them to make a contribution to show their support financially. We are planning an "Honor Roll of Contributing Locals" to show our appreciation for their support for this legal action and for their school nurses.
News Articles Related to School Nurse Pay Equity
The Boston Globe: "School Nurses Seek Pay Parity" by Anne Barnard
Metro/Region Section B Page 4
The Boston Globe: "School Nurses Demand More Pay" by Alexander Reid
Metro/Region South Edition Page 1
You may read these articles by visiting The Boston Globe. Click on archives section and type in search category the word school nurse.
|