Education Support Professionals (ESPs)

Results-Oriented Job Descriptions - A New Approach

Too many ESPS have old and outdated job descriptions, or no written job descriptions at all. Read how Madelaine Colas and other members of the North Plainfield Education Association members have been working with administrators to update job descriptions that haven’t changed since 1993.  They are using ROJD's (results-oriented job descriptions), a new approach developed by the NEA.

ESP Local Assocations around the country are succeeding in implementing ROJDs. Learn more from these publications: Results-Oriented Job Descriptions and Results-Oriented Job Descriptions: How Paraeducators Help Students Achieve.

Laura Vernon is 2008 NEA ESP of the Year

Laura Vernon rarely shies away from helping children.  She solicited donations so high school students from low-income families could attend the prom.  She also volunteered to tutor students during the summer months to help them stay focused.  These examples help explain why the Wisconsin safety assistant is the 2008 NEA Education Support Professional of the Year. You can watch a video about Laura at the right, and read more about Laura's award here and here.

Do you know someone who deserves to be recognized as an ESP of the Year? If so, it will soon be time to start the nomination process for them.  Here's more about how to do it.

Merging Local Associations

We know that there is strength in numbers, and that many Local Associations which include both teachers and ESPs, or which combine different categories of ESPS (bus drivers and paraeducators, clerical staff and custodians), are strong and effective advocates for their members.  But we also know that it takes work to build unity out of this diversity, and that not all mergers are equally successful.

Please take a few seconds to give us your opinion on merged locals - complete the poll to the right.

ESPs Deserve Professional Pay

ESP's deserve a living wage! Debbie Ennels, a classroom aide, lives in a shelter. Bus driver Jerry Parham works five jobs.They are among the many NEA members trying to get by on low pay.  Want to know what a living wage is in your community?  NEA has links to several on-line living wage calculators.  

Through its nationwide salary initiative, NEA is pushing for an appropriate living wage as starting pay for all education support professionals. The new "Professional Pay" area of this Web site is chock-full of features to help you understand and fight for a living wage. Here’s more.

ESP in 'NEA Today': Washington ESPs fight for living wages

Since the successful living wage campaign by the Ithaca (NY) Paraprofessionals Association in 2002, ESPs across the country have begun their own campaigns to win living wages -- sufficient compensation to let them pay for basic items such as rent, food, utilities, taxes, and transportation without needing other financial assistance.

Inspired by these campaigns, Washington state ESPs, backed by their state Association and the NEA, have begun a coordinated campaign in three different locations across the state.  "We thought, if [Ithaca] can do it, we can do it," says secretary Debby Chandler, ESP chair of the Spokane Education Association. Read all about the Washington campaign.

For ESP Stories in previous issues of 'NEA Today,' go to the Archives.

NEA's Newsletter for Republican Members

We are pleased to share with you the second issue of NEA’s quarterly newsletter for Republican members, produced by NEA Government Relations. It is an important part of our effort to build outreach to Republican members – to help them become more active in the Republican Party and promote pro-public education policies and candidates.  Read the newsletter.

Do the Right Thing:
Driver Doesn't Tolerate Abusive Language

"You have to let children know that bad language is just not acceptable," says Pennsylvania bus driver Chuck Thompson.  Thompson believes that part of his success comes from letting his students know what he expects and what he will tolerate. Find out more in this interview.

You can learn much more about how educators, students, and community members can promote thoughtful, respectful behavior in schools in NEA’s new “Do the Right Thing” Web site.

New ESP Mentoring Manual

Don't miss Supporting Our Own: A Manual for ESP Mentoring Programs. This new on-line manual is designed to help local Associations and school districts to plan and implement mentoring programs specifically for and by ESP.  Accompanying materials, downloadable as PDF files, can help program administrators prepare mentors for their important roles.  The complete print version of this manual can also be downloaded as a PDF file from the "NEA Resources for ESP" section of this site.

Dave's View: Get Involved

Dave Arnold points out that "In most organizations you will normally find 2 percent of the people doing 98 percent of the work.  Yet no one member or small group of members can accomplish all that there is to do.  Dave recounts two occasions when  he had family energencies, yet could not find another member to cover his Association duties for him.

His column passes along a poem written by NEA President Reg Weaver -- "Are You an Active Member or Do You Just Belong?" Read more in "Get Involved." (June 19, 2007)

Be sure to take a look at some of Dave's previous columns, which now number more than 140! Dave, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois. If you want to learn more about this ESP scribe, read the feature on Dave entitled "The Quiet Leader," in the March 2006 issue of NEA Today.

The "ESP List"

The ESP list is an automated e-mail list (a "listserv") open to all NEA members and to staff of NEA and its affiliates. List members use the ESP list to discuss issues that concern education support professionals within the NEA, including contracting out, bargaining problems, training needs, and questions about how to improve and strengthen the Association. 

It's easy to submit a subscription request to the list from this Web site. Here's more.

NEA's 489,000 Education Support Professional (ESP) members take care of our children every day and make sure they have the tools they need to succeed in our schools and classrooms.