Cities, Schools Struggle to Fill Many Low-Paying Jobs

SAN JOSE â€”  Dorothy Jones worked as a crossing guard near an elementary school for three years, but when classes resumed this week she was not at her usual post.

Like many other crossing guards these days, she had to turn in her uniform.

Silicon Valley’s raging economy has forced the rent up $500 on her two-bedroom apartment in the last year, too much for the retired woman to handle. Now she’s a part-time nanny for the child of an engineer, and hopes to make more than $1,200 a month--more than twice what she earned shepherding children across the street.

“They’re going to miss me,� Jones said. “Everybody calls me the waving lady.�

Across the country, the tight labor market has made it hard for cities and school districts to fill openings for such relatively low-paying jobs as crossing guards, substitute teachers and bus drivers.

The problem is especially striking in San Jose, a sprawling city of 900,000 that bills itself as the capital of Silicon Valley.

San Jose starts crossing guards at $12.22 an hour and pays them as much as $14.86 an hour--far above the 1998 national median of $7.18--but there are only two hours of work a day and no health benefits.

That’s not enough money for retired people and stay-at-home parents who traditionally work as crossing guards. Some have instead found posts as security guards at high-tech companies that offer more hours, said San Jose Police Lt. Randy Cooper, who oversees the crossing guard program.

There are about 130 crossing guards in San Jose, down by about 30 from last year. There is also a long waiting list of schools that want help getting children across streets clogged with the traffic of aggressive commuters.

When someone like Dorothy Jones leaves, the department must replace her with a guard from an intersection that should have two guards but can squeak by with one.

“This is bad,� Cooper said. “Something has to happen.�

And the problem is not confined to Silicon Valley.

In Lake Worth, Fla., police officers have had to perform crossing-guard stints. Officials in Arlington, Texas, have aired ads on cable TV in search of crossing guards.

Georgette Branham, who spent 17 years as a San Jose crossing guard and is now the police department’s school safety coordinator, plans to recruit at colleges, hoping the job will appeal to students taking night classes.

She also has been distributing flyers at senior centers and talking up the joys of making sure children are safe.