Education Support Professionals
We're NEA ESPs and Proud of It!
Highlights:
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Education Secretary, NEA President Salute Education Support Professionals
VIDEO: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel rolled up their sleeves and donned chef's hats to serve lunch to hundreds of students at Alexandria, Virginia’s John Adams Elementary School. The event honored ESPs. -
Education Support Professionals Day
Wednesday, November 18 focused on the importance of these school employees, who take care of students every day, making sure they have the tools they need to succeed in school. -
National Spotlight Shines on Support Staff
VIDEO: Rhode Island Support Professionals Host U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan -
Urge Your Representative in Congress to Support National Classified School Employees of the Year Awards
10/7/2009
Representatives Titus (D-NV) and Woolsey (D-CA) in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill (H.R. 2377) to create National Classified School Employees of the Year awards. These awards would recognize the essential services of ESPs. -
NEA ESP of the Year Award 2010
NEA ESP each year recognizes a member who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in his or her school, community, and profession. -
ESPs Deserve a Living Wage
Support professionals are woefully underpaid, often barely able to afford to live in the communities they serve. - ESP – Extraordinary Special Power
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Privateer Exposed
Survey helps support professionals end bus outsourcing in Illinois. -
2009 ESP of the Year: Live Life Loud!
That’s Education Support Professional of the Year Kathie Axtell’s advice to her colleagues and it means standing up and putting a public face of the role of education support professionals.
About Education Support Professionals
NEA's Education Support Professional (ESP) members, one-half million and growing, take care of our children every day and make sure they have the tools they need to succeed in our schools and classrooms. We are the...
- school bus driver who greets your child with a warm "hello" and delivers him safely to school
- cafeteria worker who gives your daughter a warm, healthy meal
- paraeducator who provides your child with a little extra help in the classroom
- school nurse who comforts your sick child
- office assistant who makes sure your son's records are up to date
- technician who wires the classroom computers
- custodian who works to keep schools clean
- security professional who helps keep students safe.
We make up more than 40 percent of the total K-12 education workforce. We are a critically important part of the school community. Learn more about what we do in ESP Jobs.
We directly affect student learning.
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In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the bus drivers in the Pennsbury School District link bus safety activities with the language arts and social studies curriculum for kindergartners.
- In Broward County, Florida, paraprofessionals supervise and train students to run a peace center where they learn peer mediation.
- Reeths-Puffer, Michigan, food-service staff teach nutrition to student and parent groups and provide tasty, economical catering for staff parties.
- A custodian in Topsham, Maine, counsels elementary school teachers on selecting safe classroom materials.
We bring years of experience to our jobs.
- On average, K-12 ESP members have nearly 11 years of experience in education support work.
We are dedicated to students and schools.
- Nearly 95 percent of K-12 ESPs surveyed in 1997 said they planned to stay in education.test
We have strong ties to the community. Nearly 80 percent of us...
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volunteer time to community organizations or activities
- live in the school districts where we work
We've put together this ESP section of the National Education Association's Web site to help parents, community members, and other educators gain a better understanding of Education Support Professionals, and to provide resources that will help ESP's meet today's challenges and do our jobs better. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please send us an e-mail.test
Video
A Day Without Education Support Professionals (ESP)
See for yourself how important every education support professional is to the daily lives of our students and our schools. This poignant video illustrates the value of our work on so many levels. It was produced by Indiana member Mary Neylon.
Video
Education Support Professionals Day
NEA Executive Committee Member Paula Monroe tells the story of ‘Education Support Professional of the Year’ Kathie Axtell.
ESP Day
Radio Interviews
Article
Video
- Secretary of Education and NEA President celebrate Education Support Professionals Day - With a visit to John Adams Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia.
- NEA ESP of the Year Award 2010
- American Education Week
- 2010 NEA ESP Conference
- Key facts about NEA's ESP members
- ESPs: Why Join NEA?
- The ESP Quality Department
- ESP Jobs
- The ESP E-mail List
- ESP Members of the NEA Board
Dave Arnold: This school custodian and former Illinois Education Association ESP of the Year is a published poet. But most Association members know him best from the editorials -- Dave's View --
Video
2009 ESP of the Year
Meet Kathie (in her own words) in this excerpt from WEA¹s video portrait of the 2009 ESP of the Year.
