Here’s another take on SMCISD raising our minimum wage to $15/hr. An estimated 31 % of people in San Marcos live below the 2021 federal poverty guideline. In San Marcos, more than 1/3 of those people are single mothers.

Some of these women are hardworking SMCISD employees in essential service jobs, such as instructional aide, cafeteria worker, and custodian. The hourly wage increase passed by the board, is a step toward moving more SMCISD families out of multigenerational poverty.

As in, a single mother with one child starting in our cafeterias annually makes $17,017, which is almost $400 below the $17,420 poverty line. At $15/hr, she will now make $19,635. It’s still incredibly difficult to raise a child on that salary [see #HaysALICE], but it’s a start.

Same for a single mother of two working as an instructional aide. She just went from $19,448 a year to $22,440, just passing the $21,960 poverty guideline. And a single mother of 3 working in SMCISD as a starting custodian, who had been making $26,728,

or $228 above the poverty guideline, will now make $30,840. That’s a significant difference that could mean a new car payment, savings for a house or higher education, mental health treatment, the opportunity for a child to play an instrument or a sport,

and/or putting more nutritious food on the table. Those are big deals in the lives of our SMCISD students, families, and employees, and something we should all support.