The ESProfessionals:
An Action Guide to Help in Your Professional Development

Local Association Success Stories:
Taking Over the Training

Spokane Education Association
Spokane, Washington

"We have wall-to-wall ESP in our district, everyone but the bus drivers. We bargain as a whole and make the effort to work together and listen to everyone in order to best meet the needs of all of our members, no matter what they do during the day." -Debra Chandler, Attendant Secretary, Rogers High School, Spokane, Washington

That Was Then

It would seem a monumental task to offer quality and ongoing professional development to members of a local Association to which food service workers, custodians, secretaries, and paraeducators all belong. But ESP leaders in the Spokane Education Association (SEA) accomplished this task when they worked as a team to take professional development out of the hands of the district and put it into their own.

This is Now

Debra Chandler, an attendant secretary for Rogers High School in Spokane, as well as secretary for Washington Education Association's ESP Professional Development Committee, is proud to note that there is now $15,000 allocated for three training conferences per year for SEA members. Each conference is organized by those who really know what they're doing -- the education support professionals themselves. Furthermore, all of the participants receive credits for attending, which makes them eligible for district-paid stipends.

"We conducted a survey to find out what our members needed to learn. We wanted to be very job specific. What we got back were needs like boiler repair classes, truck driving instruction, and computer classes," recalls Debra. "It was predictable that secretaries secretaries would ask for computer classes, but our survey showed they also wanted classes on stress management, wellness, and training for how to handle bullying. These are skills we really need in our work environment."

This is How

The Spokane school district used to provide training on specific job-related issues for support educators in selected schools or work units. But trainings weren't always available, and only 100 or so of Spokane's 1,400 plus ESPs would get any in-service during a typical year.

In the summer of 1998, SEA proposed to district management that members be in charge of ESP training because they felt they weren't getting what they needed to grow their careers. Management agreed to an initial one-year trial.

During that first year, SEA had only enough money to offer three in-service training sessions. To their surprise, more than 200 support professionals participated, which paved the way for more money to host bigger conferences in the following years.

The group formed a committee of members -- at least one representative from every job category including custodians and secretaries -- to organize the annual events. The committee then surveyed members about what trainings they needed and wanted. Each year, the committee comes to agreement on the member needs and then goes about recruiting trainers from around the state.

It's a new -- and effective -- way of working, says Debra. "When I visited NEA in 2002 for a professional development committee meeting, they were so happy at what we have been able to achieve so far, and so are we!"

UniServ Director Sharon Bacon, says there is a change in attitude today that has built over the last several years because of the new system. Both support staff and administrators are realizing, she says, "that school support staff have demanding jobs and they need professional development options, just like teachers do."

Words of Wisdom

"All support professionals need to go to classes to better themselves -- just like teachers," argues Debra. "It was not hard at all to get the school district to go along with our ideas for professional development because the district truly values us. They also saw the excitement and response from ESP when we put together meaningful and valuable trainings."

Contact

Debra Chandler-WEA ESP Professional Development Committee Secretary
debracha@spokaneschools.org

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