On September 16th, 2015, The Board of Education for the City of Nashua voted 7-1 to not renew its contract with AFSCME for its cleaning services. The current contract with AFSCME expires on June 30th, 2016, after which the Board of Education plans to hire an independent contractor to do this work.

We, the undersigned, oppose the privatization of The Nashua School District’s custodial services for the following reasons:

1) We trust OUR custodians to clean and maintain the schools where OUR children attend.

2) The Board of Education’s stated reason for privatizing its cleaning services is to save money. The District could also save money by negotiating cost-savings with AFSCME. Why was this option not pursued first?

3) Contracting out costs more than advocates claim because indirect and hidden costs of service delivery are often ignored. Such costs include contract monitoring and administration conversion costs, charges for “extra” work, and the contractor’s use of public equipment.

4) It is difficult for contractors, who tend to provide inferior wages and benefits, to attract and retain qualified employees. As a result not only is service quality affected, but children are exposed to unnecessary and destabilizing staff turnover.

5) There is an adverse economic impact on communities when schools contract out. Good paying jobs are replaced with low-wage work with no benefits. Nashua already has a need for more middle class jobs, this decision would only make the problem worse.

6) Dependence on contractors increases as in-house capacity is reduced or eliminated. Contractors often low-ball their initial bid to win a contract and then raise the price in renewals. Nashua has witnessed this first hand with its private busing services.

7) Public accountability is diminished. School districts have to operate in an open forum and are directly accountability to students and parents. Private contractors do not have the same level of public scrutiny.

8) When profit Is the prime motivation in service delivery, there is an incentive to cut corners by skimping on quality and quantity.

We urge Nashua’s Board of Education to reconsider its decision to privatize its custodial services and renew its contract with AFSCME.

In Solidarity,

The Undersigned

Credits:
Many of the reasons stated above were provided by AFSCME and can be read in greater detail here:

http://www.afscme.org/news-publications/publications/privatization/pdf/SchoolsSale-1.pdf