CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The cold war over wages for workers at your child's school has been decidedly hotter this school year. From teachers to cafeteria workers to school bus drivers, frustrations about pay have boiled over during the pandemic. That's been especially true in Wake County, the state's largest school district.
Now, as the first half of the school year is set to close -- ABC 11 is talking to staff and district leadership about the hope for labor peace in the New Year.
When Vinh Ngo walks into work every day as a special education instructional assistant at Green Hope High in Cary, he's wearing his staff badge along with his not-so-old Green Hope student ID from 2014.
"So when I tell students that I understand, that I understand the pressure -- I'm not just saying that because we all been through high school. I say that because I was in that same exact chair you're sitting in," Ngo said.
Ngo's work life was thrown for a loop by the pandemic. The 25-year-old was furloughed from his job as an airline flight attendant two years ago. That's when he accepted the job at his high school alma mater. It was a big pay cut.
Supplementing income for survival
According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, a single adult with no children in Wake County needs to make at least $16.20 an hour to earn enough for housing, food, medical costs, transportation. Ngo's starting salary: $13 an hour.
"It's absolutely not (enough money). When you live in Wake County and when you live in Cary...
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