Learning: ESP on the Team

Tales of Two Locals In the Grand Canyon State
First contracts take work, but payoff is great.

It's no small task, building a new local. Folks in two new locals in Arizona can tell you that--but they'll also tell you the long-term benefits are worth the struggle. "We've had a long haul just getting to the place where we could talk to the district," says Sherry Thompson, president of the new support staff unit in Cave Creek, Arizona.

"Last year we were told the administration and school board didn't want to talk to us," Thompson notes. "They didn't have to even consider us because we weren't organized. We assured them we were, and proved it by getting almost 100 percent signed signature cards from staff saying they wanted us to represent them."

The board got the message and formally recognized the 50-member Support Staff Cave Creek last year, and the group settled its first contract with the district in May.

Major benefits include a raise of at least 5 percent for most members and a professional growth plan to be put in place for the 2002-03 school year. Union members will also work with the district to revise the "Classified Handbook."

According to Thompson, a few older employees were negative at first about unionizing. But, she adds, "As a whole, we are going uphill now at a steady pace. New employees seem happy that we went to bat for them."

Thompson says, "Staff members who had been there awhile had a wait-and-see attitude. When people started seeing improvements with how we were treated by the administrators and that we were trying to work together, they wanted to be part of the group that makes a difference."

This wasn't the first time that the classified employees had tried to organize. But earlier efforts failed to get off the ground. This time, Thompson says, "We let the people know we had the teachers' backing. And our NEA UniServ director helped us.''

While they've been organized longer, the certified and classified employees in Arizona's Peoria Education Association--the fourth largest in the state--dealt with many of the same problems as support staff and teachers do in Cave Creek and elsewhere in the nation.

They basically had no bargaining power and weren't recognized as a unit. But local Association President Kathy Evans says a recent sales tax pro- position, which many viewed as detrimental to public education, helped organize people. Frozen salaries in four recent years also helped employees realize a strong local Association could help. Membership in both the certified and classified positions has jumped dramatically.

The Association's executive board has meanwhile been building its repu-tation within the district and community. It has created a school board contact team as well as government relations, political action, and public relations vice-president positions.
Evans credits the success that her local has met with to Arizona Education Association as well as a strong core of dynamic local people who both work in and support the local schools. Solidarity has been high--400 people in purple shirts showed up for a late-May school board meeting. "We have a lot of spit and polish in this district," says Evans, "and we go above and beyond for students."

Team player
Job List That Never Ends

Name: Tammy McBride

Job Title: Bus driver, Hoffman, North Carolina

Background: During her junior year in high school 19 years ago, Tammy McBride began her employment in the field of education. In those days, you could drive a school bus in North Carolina while still attending school. So for two years, she went to class and drove a bus.

After graduating, she kept on bus driving while also going to Richmond Technical College in Hamlet, North Carolina. Over the years, she's driven a bus for all levels-elementary, junior high, and high school-near the golfing Mecca of Pinehurst.

Current school positions: First grade teacher assistant, after-school tutorial bus driver, summer school assistant and bus driver, safety committee chairperson, boys' basketball coach for ages 8-11. She's also the PTA vice-president. Current community positions: Derby Volunteer Fire Department firefighter and
secretary, emergency medical technician.

How she does all this? "Having my husband's family nearby helps, but I'm also a very outgoing person who's got to have something to do to keep busy. "Many of my jobs are voluntary, except the driving and teaching assistant positions. I've been with the fire department for 11 years, and I've attained the highest rank below the instructor level.

"We have two children ages 11 and 8, and I have a routine that I follow. I get up at 5 a.m. to start my day and get my children ready. It all balances out. It can get stressful at times. But after you've done it for so long, it's like anything else you would do.
"I definitely know the value of teamwork, and working with kids is the favorite part of all my jobs.

"I'm only 35 and I'm still looking to the future. I would like to one day get more involved in children's lives. I'd like to be able to catch the behavior or learning disability problems early so they won't have to struggle in upper grades."

Going the Extra Mile

NEA's ESP membership continues to grow. In 2000-01, membership roles grew by 24,700 members to nearly 333,600.
The higher number means one more ESP seat has been added to the NEA Board of Directors. Al Perez, NEA's associate director of Affiliate Capacity Building in charge of the ESP program, says the growth is directly attributable to "organizational efforts made at the state level." More members means more folks who are going the extra mile, including . . .

Raul Vasquez says he's slowing down on his activities a bit, now that his children are grown. Most of us would say this Salem-Keizer, Oregon, special education instructional assistant still has his hands full. Last spring he won the local Ed Elliot Human Rights Award for making a sustained contribution to human and civil rights. Vasquez received the honor for his long history of volunteerism on behalf of Hispanic youth.

He began his career in education in 1974. Since then he worked in the areas of bilingual, migrant, and special education. Throughout those years he served on the city council and other committees involving cultural issues and public relations. Vasquez has devoted much of his effort to involving Hispanics in city government and in being part of their city.

That's not all. Vasquez begins his fourth year on the executive committee of the Salem-Keizer Association of Classified Employees and he's served as a delegate to the Oregon and the NEA Representative Assemblies. The Minority Affairs Committee and the Legal Defense Program of the Oregon Education Association are also beneficiaries of Vasquez's dedication. So much for slowing down. . . .

Iowa middle school secretary Janis Schultz devotes herself to students, during and after school. Her 20-year career with the West Delaware district in northeast Iowa keeps her busy in school handling attendance and clerical duties, tracking student discipline and going "above and beyond" in daily interactions with students, parents and community members.

Schultz also shares her love of horses with students by helping
with the annual fifth grade outdoor education camp. She teaches the kids about riding and horses and brings her lessons to life by having them ride their own horses. That's not all. This Midwestern dynamo and her husband, Dave, are both active Iowa State Education Association members. Schultz was instrumental in organizing the West Delaware Education Support Association and has served as president, vice-president, and negotiator, not to mention membership recruiter. Schultz even produces The Support Report newsletter. In recognition of all her contributions, Schultz received the ISEA ESP Award last school year.

Resources

Food Service Specials
National School Lunch Week this year runs from October 15-19. For details, visit the Web site of the American School Food Service Association at www.asfsa.org. The site has information about the new labeling guidelines for food allergens, links to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and occasionally chats for food service workers.

Health News To Use
School nurses and other public health employees may find the Web site of the American Medical Association a useful tool. Tour the archives of the Journal of the AMA for articles and news summaries. Search functions prove helpful for finding information and links on everything from tobacco to asthma. Go to www.ama-assn.org.

More Health News
If the AMA doesn't have what you're looking for, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might. The list of conditions and diseases by itself is mind-boggling. Or check out the list of networks and other resources and Web sites at www.cdc.gov. A full Spanish version of the site is available, too.

Great Para Resource
The National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Education and Related Services offers a fine site focused on the work of paraprofessionals. Articles and information, training materials, and other resources are available at www.nrcpara.org. Another useful site: www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/Clearinghouse.html, from the National Clearinghouse for Paraeducator Resources.

Bus Drivers Park Here
Information, sometimes with a colorful twist, by and for school bus drivers, is available at user.mc.net/~hyden/. Great graphics of school buses and other art are available online. There are some really "far out buses" to look at and a survey to take, not to mention information on seat belts, railroad crossings, repetitive stress injuries, and more.