Thousands of public school employees whose jobs are gone several months a year are fighting for unemployment insurance benefits, after a bill earlier this year stalled in the state legislature.
"You pay into the system but you are not able to use the system," said Johnny Glasker, a school bus driver for the Inglewood Unified School District.
Glasker is one of the many public school employees who have to turn to outside jobs during the summer months when school is out.
Another is Cheryl Joseph, a teacher's assistant who's worked with special-needs children for 14 years with Inglewood.
"I have taken on baby-sitting, youth organizations I have been working with," she said.
Joseph and Glasker are both part-time public school employees, and when summer comes, they are out of work.
So-called classified employees, they are not eligible for the state's unemployment insurance benefits.
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It's not as simple as finding other jobs to replace them.
"Once they know you are from a school, a district, they know you're only there for the summer," Glasker said. "So why hire you, when they can hire someone else who is going to stay."
A bill proposed by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Pacoima, called for an expansion of the unemployment insurance benefits to include classified employees of public schools.
That bill died in committee.
Opponents argue there would be millions of dollars in extra costs to the fund that pays out the insurance.
A previous version of the bill said this number would be upward of $75 million.
But the legislation is not gone for good — not if the people affected have anything to say about it.
Chris Graeber is a union representative from the California Professional Employees Union who represents these types of workers in the Inglewood Unified School District.
"Unemployment insurance, it's on the bottom of your paycheck, you pay every month into that, so when you get laid off, you get it," he said.
Just in their district, 400 people are having to deal with the issue -- "imagine statewide," Graeber said.
Glasker and Joseph said that to make sure they can provide for their families, change needs to happen.
"If we work for the money, why can't we receive our money?" Joseph said.
A representative for Assemblyman Bocanegra said the issue continues to be a priority. The bill will be reintroduced when the legislative session begins in January.
