Learning: ESP on the Team
Giving ESP a Chance To Grow

With tuition help from their district, New Jersey paraeducators find career advancement.

Her new contract provides prep time for Trenton, Jew Jersey, paraeducator Janelle Hill.

More than 200 New Jersey paraeducators have something they've never had before. A serious chance to augment their education and advance their careers.

Thanks to a new contract, the first bargained through their new affiliation with the NEA, paras in the Trenton Paraprofessional Association (TPA) can have up to 12 tuition credits paid per year--if they choose to pursue other career opportunities within the district.

This marks a major change, given that the previous contract, bargained while the paras were members of another union, had no reference to professional development at all.

Nefertari Nelson, a second-year para for pre-K children, plans to take advantage of the new learning opportunities as soon as she can. "I've checked four higher education institutions already. I just feel it will be so valuable for me to get my degree because I'll be able to look at problems in new ways and analyze situations better."

According to UniServ Representative Maureen Cronin, the union and management bargaining teams identified common goals during bargaining and moved consistently toward problem solving.

"There's a constant need to hire teachers in this urban district," says Cronin. "The board saw paras as a large resource. They represent a dedicated workforce already in place and living in the community that the district had not fully tapped. Clearly the board recognized the importance paras play in the education of Trenton's children."

Betty Glenn, TPA president and a 30-year education veteran, says, "This is one of our best contracts. Tuition is paid up front, and about half our membership has expressed interest."

Paras with no college credits can take workshops and trainings offered through the New Jersey Education Association and outside sources that can lead to a maximum of 30 credits.

Paras in the district's 30 schools at the pre-K and kindergarten levels and special education paras in the junior and senior high schools are eligible.

The district will now pay the substitute certification fee for employees like Glenn who already have 60 or more credits. Called "instructional substitutes," the new contract grants them up to $40 additional per day when they take over a class in a teacher's absence. "Supervising subs" who don't have 60 credits receive an additional $20. The new sub system, says Glenn, reduces the overload on other teachers.

Further demonstrating the district's commitment to ESP professional development, the new contract also contains language on sabbatical leaves. Five paras per year may receive sabbaticals for the purpose of pursuing an education degree. They keep their health benefits and half their salary. In return, they make a commitment to teach in the district for three years.

Paraeducator Nefertari Nelson works with pre-kindergarteners.

The bargaining team achieved another key piece in this contract--planning time for paras. The time is to occur at the same time as the teacher's preparation time, so the para and teacher can talk and plan together.

"Paras need to know what their responsibilities are," Glenn notes. "That's necessary to increase the level of job satisfaction. We must know what's happening the rest of the day, the week, and with specific children."

--Tom Nordby

Team Player
Watching Over Retirement Funds

Association positions: I've done a little bit of everything. I was founding president of the Cairo (Illinois) Association of Educational Support Personnel and am now past president. I've served as grievance and as negotiations chairperson and am currently on the NEA Paraeducator Task Force.

Branching out: After being endorsed by the Illinois Education Association and AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), I won election last year to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. It's a $16 billion defined benefit fund with 170,000 public employee members. The fund has existed for 60 years, but I'm the first minority member elected.

A big interest of mine is trying to get health insurance for retired support personnel. Health care costs seem to be going to astronomical heights, yet the legislature hasn't seen fit to offer a health insurance plan for retirees. A lot of our members continue to work despite being retirement age, or being ill, because they can't afford health insurance.

The voice of experience: This is my 33rd year in education. We formed our local union six years ago, and I'm proud we have a bargaining unit that's strong and that stands up for our rights.

My advice to people is don't go into this work for the money. Do it because you enjoy working with adults and students, meeting the public, and handling stressful office conditions.

My principal says I'm the only person who can type three suspension lettersat the same time I'm counting money, answering the phone, writing tardy slips for students, and eating lunch. You learn to be multifunctional. Sometimes I joke that I don't have to worry about becoming principal, because I already run the school.

Resources

"Talk" to colleagues
If you haven't yet gotten online to the NEA's ESP listserv, you're missing out on great electronic dialogue and information. As just one example, the California school shootings recently generated a series of comments and personal experiences about school violence from ESP members. School bus drivers and paras of all types have also held lively discussions. Don't miss out on this ongoing source of opinion, fact, and new insight. NEA members can subscribe to the service by sending a message to LYRIS@LIST.NEA.ORG and typing the words SUBSCRIBE ESP in the body of the message. Once the list administrator has cleared you, it's easy to post your own messages or ask for information from your ESP colleagues.

Personal, and professional
Information on air bags, vehicles and equipment, injury prevention, and much more is right at your fingertips if you're checking the U.S. Department of Transportation Web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov. There's a great search tool, an auto safety hotline, and even a page of "Stuff for Kids." The toll-free number for the hotline, in case you prefer to call, is 888-DASH-2-DOT. Whether you're a bus driver looking for work-related topics or searching for data to bolster your next personal car purchase, you're sure to find something here.

Women's work
"Resources and Services designed to help employers and unions recruit, train, and retain women in high-wage nontraditional occupations and apprenticeships." That sums up www.workplacesolutions.org. The site is closely tied into Wider Opportunities for Women (202/638-3143) which works to gain economic independence and equality of opportunity for women and girls. For more than 30 years, WOW says, it has "helped women learn to earn." Take a look at the WOW site, too, at www.wowonline.org.

Going the Extra Mile

Githens Middle School in Durham, North Carolina, is lucky to have the services of custodian Ralph Reid. In addition to taking care of his normal duties, Reid loves "being around kids and all my coworkers. I used to work at a university, but I like this better because I can sit down and talk to the kids. Sometimes they need a chance to talk, too."

Reid's usually the first worker/learner in the building each morning. You see, he's also working on his own GED and starts his day studying in the teacher lounge before the first bell of the day rings. His goal? Earn the GED so he can go to community college and study nursing or Black history. Reid became motivated when his oldest brother said he wanted to learn to read. "I said to myself, if I'm going to teach him how to read, it would be a good idea to go back to school." Seems like it's been good all around. Reid says his brother is now a better reader than he is.

Terri Prough, a paraeducator who works with visually impaired students in St. John Parish in Louisiana, writes, "In our area, it's always been said an aide is an aide is an aide. This meant no matter how much more education one aide had than another, the salary is the same. It also meant while one aide can leave work at school, another has to go home and study special learning skills such as sign language or Braille.

"Since 1993, I've been fighting to change it so if an aide has special training and is using it daily, then extra pay should be given. Last fall, the superintendent heard the pleas of my colleagues who have other special skills and me. We're now paid an extra $75 per month over aides with regular skills. This isn't great money, but we were heard and it's a start."

Delaware paraprofessional Julie Coleman died from an asthma attack last year, but her work continues through her good friend Meg Berns.

According to Berns, Coleman did so many things, not least of which was getting the annual Read Across America activities going at their Simpson Elementary School in Camden. "We never did anything before, but Julie got things started," says Berns, who has worked as a para and secretary for 23 years.

Coleman died in November, two months after being elected treasurer of the Delaware State Education Association, the first ESP to hold an elected statewide office.