ESPs in the States
AL AK AZ AR CA CO DE FL GA ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE
NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY
In the States
Alabama
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!Listen to what Donna West has to say about her ESP career.
NEA and AEA Challenge Alabama's H.B. 56
The National Education Association, Alabama Education Association and the National School Boards Association challenge Alabama's House Bill 56, the countries harshest immigration law.
A Boot Camp to Promote Healthy Foods
Read about lunchroom and child nutrition manager of Brownwood Elementary School in Scottsboro, Alabama, Donna West's experience at the rigorous culinary training she and others attended in Aurora, Colorado.
Visit the Alabama Education Association website.
Visit the Alaska Education Association website.
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Michael Thomas has to say about his ESP career.
Visit the Arizona Education Association website.
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Stephone Avery has to say about his ESP career.
Kay Yates: An Arkansas Bus Driver Who Goes the Extra Mile
Yates is a professional bus driver in every sense of the word. She frequently participates in bus safety and evacuation drills, but she knows that a child's well-being includes far more than just a safe ride to and from school. "The one thing I want to do is to make sure that when they get off the bus, they will be motivated to go to school, they'll be focused to go to school, and they'll want to learn while they're there," Yates said.
California
Doing Her Part - And Then Some
Read how ESP member Celiza Hernandez of Redlands, CA jumped into action to ensure success for her students during a time of budget cuts.
School Buses: Are They Headed For Extinction?
School bus transprotation for middle and high school students in California is growing extinct at an alarming rate. Read about this growing trend. (The Press-Enterprise, April 14, 2012 )
Leadership in a Small Town
Sam Phillps, an American Indian and utility maintenance employee for Potter Valley Community Unified School District in California, takes the lead in student cultural familiarity and ESP rights.
Visit the California Teachers Association website.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Lori Burnell and Debbie Solis have to say about their ESP careers.
Education Support Professionals Honored at 86th Delegate Assembly
The Colorado Education Association honored ESP members Amy Wilkening and Debbie Harman for their outstanding contributions to the Association and public education at an awards ceremony held during their 86th Delegate Assembly.
VIDEOS: Pueblo School District Custodians Speak Out On Outsourcing
Pueblo Custodian, Glen Saiz
Pueblo Custodian, Robert Sanchez
Pueblo, Colorado Custodian Makes a Difference
Head custodian at Central High School in Pueblo, Colo., talks about the difference he makes on the job for the school and in the lives of students.
Visit the Colorado Education Association website.
DSEA ESP of the Year
Read more about how paraprofessional, Joan Robinson earned her spot as DSEA ESP of the year working with severly handicap students in her school.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Mike Hoffmann and Jossette Threatts have to say about their ESP careers.
Visit the Delaware State Education Association website.
Visit the Florida Education Association website.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Gregory Davis, Angela Tucker-Holmes, and Deborah Lazarus have to say about their ESP careers.
ESP Day Proclamation Presented to CCEA ESP
The Board of Commissioners presented Clayton County Education Association (CCEA) with an ESP Day Proclamation. This county proclamation as well as as the one received last month from Georgia Governor Nathan Deal was spearheaded by Deborah Lazarus, ESP Committee chair for Clayton County Education Association and current participant of NEA Leaders For Tomorrow class. Clear evidence of the positive things ESPs are doing across the country as a result of their leadership training.
Click here to view a picture of the event.
NEW: Clayton County Bus Driver Recognized
Clayton County bus driver is recognized for his many years of advocacy and activism in behalf of public education.
Georgia Local Fights Privatization with YouTube
Your local association can question and influence school board economic decisions. See how this local in Georgia uses the airwaves to advocate against privatization of 900 school custodial position. More on local advocacy...
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Advocacy via Community Outreach Key to Influencing Political and Economic Decisions
As elected leaders, local association members are in a unique position to present critical information and analysis about the decisions of local school boards. It’s a natural extension of the duties and responsibilities of association office. School boards make political and economic decisions affecting community lives and business every day. As part of the participatory process, citizens and formal groups such as member locals, can and do observe, comment and attempt to influence such decisions.
Guesting on a radio show is one way to present your association’s observations, facts and recommendations for action upon any school board agenda item or decision. Advocacy takes many routes.
This YouTube video is of a radio interview with David Schutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators in Georgia, along with former presidents Rosilind Taylor and Jackie Henry, about the school board’s proposal to privatize school maintenance and eliminate 900 jobs. Let the local know what you think. We’re sure they would like a word or two of support.
For more local updates and news visit the Georgia Association of Educators website.
Visit the Idaho Education Association website.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Jeri Stodola, Janice Hoffman, and David Arnold have to say about their ESP careers.
Visit the Illinois Education Association website.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Betty Batliner and Donna Nielsen have to say about their ESP careers.
Indiana State Legislature Targets Worker Rights
Indiana General Assembly is fast-tracking the right-to-work law, which research has shown will lower the average worker's wages by $1500 a year.
Visit the Indiana State Teachers Association website.
Iowa
Visit the Iowa State Education Association website.
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Linda Bush has to say about her ESP career.
Visit the Kansas National Education Association website.
Visit the Kentucky Education Association website.
Visit the Louisiana Association of Educators website.
22 School Bus Drivers in Maine are Out of a Job
Communities in Maine are outraged about the RSU4 school boards decision to privatize school transportation in the 2012-2013 school year. The decision was based on a controversial vote of the board in an evening meeting. (WGME 13 News, April 12, 2012)
NEW: The Persistence of Privatization
Read how custodians at Maine School Administrative District 75 have beat back lingering privatization threats.
Maine's Lewiston Sun Journal: Tales From the Lunchroom
The essays about cafeteria workers and how they personally impact student lives, and the subsequent newspaper write-up about the paperback with the essays being published, is one way of letting the community know about your work and how it too improves a community's quality of life.
Visit the Maine Education Association website.
Listen to what Maryland ESP member Karen Blackwood has to say about her ESP career.
Maryland State Affiliate Name Change More Inclusive of School Employees
Maryland State Education Association. The new name recognizes the critical role of all Maryland public school employees in providing great public schools for every student, and it came from several years of internal organizing by members and leaders -- education support professionals and teachers alike – who knew the time for change and recognition of everyone’s work had arrived. The state affiliate was previously called the Maryland State Teachers Association. (September 2009)
- Here's how their new logo represents all seven of their membership groups.
- These radio and television advertisements are helping spread the word about their new name.
Maryland ESPs Ramp Up Visibility to Save Jobs
Sharon Fischer, president of the Carroll Association of School Employees, said bargaining is coming up this year and district officials are considering staff cuts. “We are going to highlight our work,” says Fischer. “The public needs to know what we do for the students of this district, and what won’t get done if our positions are eliminated.” The ESP local represents 266 Licensed Practicing Nurses, secretaries and clerks and paraeducators.
Listen to what Massachusetts ESP member Wende O'Brien has to say about her ESP career.
Massachusetts public school special education employee, Kathy Meltsakos, speaks on living with a career that yields zero net pay.
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Connie Boylan has to say about her ESP career.
SLIDESHOW: Fighting Privatization in Court and at the Ballot Box
After Michigan support professionals are fired due to privatization, the state Association sues the school district while the ESP president runs for the school board. Both win.
Just weeks after settling a three-year contract with the union representing school bus drivers and mechanics, some Northwest school officials are considering outsourcing those jobs to a private company.
Minnesota
Visit the Education Minnesota website.
Visit the Mississippi Association of Educators website.
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Karmen K. Hill has to say about her ESP career.
Keeper of the Flame : ESP President Elect Heike Janis
In choosing a new president, members of the Ferguson-Florissant NEA (FFNEA) in St. Louis County, Missouri wanted a savvy leader who could uphold their statewide reputation as being a strong, inclusive local where teachers and education support professionals (ESP) work as partners.
Visit the Missouri NEA website.
Listen to what Montana ESP member Lynn Witts has to say about her ESP career.
Visit the Montana Education Association - Montana Federation of Teachers website.
Visit the Nebraska State Education Association website.
Visit the Nevada State Education Association website.
Visit the NEA New Hampshire website.
NEW VIDEO: ESP - It's More Than Just a Job, It's a Career
Listen to what New Jersey ESP member Stacy Yanko has to say about her ESP career.
Privatization Efforts Find New Target in School Secretaries and Teaching Assistants
Despite submitting a balanced budget in March of 2012, Englewood, New Jersey school Board members voted to outsource school secretaries and teaching assistants to fill a new $4 million budget shortfall. Citizens of Englewood are not convenced the Board has looked hard enough for alternatives.
HEA Blocks Firing of Custodians
Hainesport Education Association successfully engages parents and their community to win a six-month campaign to keep the Hainesport Board of Education from firing their six custodians and replacing them with a for-profit cleaning service.
Be an ESP for a day. Show community members how they can participate by shadowing ESP careers.
NJEA ESP of the Year Has Passion for Advocacy
A recent speech by the NJEA ESP of the Year, Anne Christiansen of the Hamilton Township Education Association in Atlantic County, is a good reminder to all of the power of one – who looks out for all.
NEW: Joseph Leonard Almaguer Honored as NEA-NM ESP of the Year
NEA Leaders for Tomorrow class of 2012 participant, Joseph Leonard Almaguer, is honored as NEA New Mexico's ESP of the Year.
Listen to what New Mexico ESP member Joseph Almaguer has to say about his ESP career.
Visit the National Education Association New Mexico website.
NYSUT School-Related Professional Member of the Year: Janis BiancoAt the recent annual NYSUT Representative Assembly, Janice Bianco, a school secretary and a third vice president of the Rondout Valley Federation of Teachers and School-related Processionals, received the School-Related Professional of the Year award.
Visit the New York State United Teachers website.
Legislative Attempt In the Dead of Night
North Carolina Governor, Bev Perdue, slams the state General Assembly for its cloak-of-darkness vote to stripe North Carolina Association of Educators' ability to collect dues from its members.
Listen to what North Carolina ESP member Chris Bridges has to say about his ESP career.
NCAE President Sheri Strickland Goes Back to the Classroom
NCAE President Sheri Strickland goes back to the classroom in honor of American Education Week.
Visit the North Carolina Association of Educators website.
Visit the North Dakota Education Association website.
Ohio
Tough Lessons in Hard Times: Mansfield, OhioWhen Tina Adams took a job as head cook in a Mansfield City Schools cafeteria in 1984, the job paid $7.60 per hour, only 35 cents more than the minimum wage today in Ohio. If she thought the pay unfair, correcting such matters came as second nature.
Visit the Oklahoma Education Association Education Support Professionals website.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Doris Jarid and Tamera Davis have to say about their ESP careers.
ESP Classroom Superhero
NEA ESP member Juan Trujillo, a Community Outreach Coordinator at Hallman Elementary School in Salem-Keizer, Oregon, is often treated like a family member when making home visits. Read why community families welcome him so openly even when meeting for the first time!
"Lunchroom Bounty: Serving Up School Nutrition Programs to Solve the Hunger Problem"
Oregon ESPs Say Fresh, Locally Grown Food Can Link Students to Academic Success. Read how.
Pennsylvania
Community Rallies Around ESPs, Defeats Privatization Plan
Read how Exeter Township Education Support Professionals Association came up with an anti-privatization plan, centered on gaining community support, to fight back against transportation privatization plans of Board members of the Exeter Township School District in Reading, Pennsylvania.
West Chester ESPs Feed Needy Families
Read how West Chester ESPs have literally put food on the table this holiday season.
Read how the Pennsylvania State Education Association's vision provides a detailed look at their goals for public education and acknowledges the hard work of all school employees -- including education support professionals -- to increase student achievement and better public education.
Visit the PSEA ESP News website for more stories.
Rhode Island
VIDEO: National Spotlight Shines on Education Support Professionals
Nearly 20 members of the North Kingstown (Rhode Island) Education Support Professional (NKESP) Association rolled up their sleeves November 3 and sat down for an informal chat with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The visit to Hamilton Elementary School was part of Duncan's listening tour. (November 2009)
South Carolina
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Roselyn Green has to say about her ESP career.
Visit The South Carolina Education Association website.
Visit the South Dakota Education Association website.
Visit the Tennessee Education Association website.
Texas ESPs Get Respect
Read how Texas support professionals say goodbye to favortism and hello to professionalism.
Lead Custodian Talks About Involvement
César Franco, Lead Custodian in the Canutillo Independent School District, Canutillo, TX, talks about the importance of being involved in the policital process. (Spanish Interview)
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Richard Martin, Linda Estrada, Ernesto Lopez, and Cesar Franco have to say about their ESP careers.
NEW: ESP Campus Secretary Linda Estrada Fights Back
Read the Superhero profile of ESP campus secretary Linda Estrada and see how she won back five sick days for ESPs in her school district.
Visit the Texas State Teachers Association website.
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Utah President Elect Jerad Reay has to say about his ESP career.
Visit the Utah School Employees Association website.
Vermont State Board Ruling
Vermont Labor Relations Board on Monday issued a ruling that spells out who among unrepresented University of Vermont staff is eligible to vote in the first round of a union election. University Staff Union-NEA is working to comply with the ruling so that nearly 820 people on campus can vote to join a union.
Middlebury Custodian Best in Vermont
Middlebury EA member Eddie Havens is the 2011 Vermont Custodian of the Year, an award bestowed by the state’s Department of Education and the Vermont School Custodians and Maintenance Association.
Visit the Virginia Education Association website.
NEW VIDEOS: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Antoinette Felder, Peggy Strum-Vanderpol, and Pat Waldrop have to say about their ESP careers.
VIDEO: Pat Nicholson, 2012 ESP of the Year
VIDEO: Pat Nicholson, 2009 CLEAN Award Winner
VIDEO: Locals Reach Out to Members to Build Their Power
Relational organizing is about creating a connection around shared values. See a series of vignettes about how locals in Washington and Alaska are reaching out to members to build their power.
Locals talk about their journey to change their local through organizing.
VIDEO: ESPs in Washington Fight for Higher Wages
Yakima Schools highest paid administrators can go home content with their families while trying to stick the district's ESP employees with poverty level wages that at times won't even pay the heat bill. (Video produced by the Yakima, Washington, Paraeducator Association.)
VIDEO: Food Fight: ESPS in Washington Battle Privateers
Ridgefield is making a bizarre choice to outsource its food service, potentially sacrificing employees' jobs & pensions -- and perhaps food quality.
VIDEO: Washington Highlights State's ESP Members
From coverage of the ESP of the Year to living wage campaigns, our state affiliate is making sure the concerns and triumphs of ESPs are visible. See for yourself.
Visit the West Virginia Education Association website.
Wisconsin
NEW VIDEO: It's More Than a Job, It's a Career!
Listen to what Brenda Close has to say about her ESP career.
The Red Bus Tour
The Red Bus Tour, organized by Wisconsin Edcuation Association Council, follows on the heels of a report from theWisconsin Department of Public Instruction that found three out of four state school districts cut teacher and education support professionals this school year.
What better way to celebrate Education Support Professionals (ESP) Day than by sharing your ESP victories? Southern Lakes United Educators' (SLUE) ESP Committee set the stage for a wonderful ESP Day program with more than 120 members in attendance.
VIDEO: Meet Wyoming Para Professional Vicki Cramer
Meet Vicke Cramer and find out why she was chosen as that state's Education Support Professional of the year.
VIDEO: Cheyenne Bus Drivers Build Wheelchair Ramp for Student
These ESP members care about their students even when they're not driving the bus. Drivers recently spent their free weekend building a wheel-chair ramp at the home of a special needs student.
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