Abstract
The purpose of this study was the examination of the self-perceived treatment of secretaries and custodians in the school system and their job satisfaction and to identify those factors which contribute to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction and differences between these two groups. The research method chosen for this study was descriptive research. A written questionnaire designed by the researcher was distributed to a total of one hundred sixty secretaries and Custodians in ten K-12 school districts in Southern California. Secretaries and custodians were asked to respond to twenty items that featured a four-point Likert scale to measure job satisfaction. The instrument also provided for the identification of behaviors that helped or hindered job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction. The statistical treatment of the data included percentages, frequency distributions, means, variances, standard deviation, t-tests and chi-squares. The findings indicated that fifty percent of the secretaries and custodians felt that they were treated like second class citizens. Over fifty percent of the respondents felt that opportunities to obtain additional training skills for their job were also inadequate. Sixty-eight percent of the secretaries and custodians indicated that communication between classified staff and management was not good. Forty-nine percent indicated that they were not recognized for their performance and accomplishments. The recommendations are as follow: (1) school administrators should provide training programs that recognize and appreciate the role of classified staff, (2) establish district wide developmental programs to provide for adequate opportunities for classified personnel to obtain additional training skills, (3) release time to attend professional development workshops and conferences should be made available to classified personnel, (4) recognition programs should be included for classified employees at the school site and district level, (5) suggestion boxes are advised with information sheets made available so that classified employees can provide input when needed.