President's Viewpoint
Thank You, ESPs

Education support professionals, you give your hearts to our public schools and students, and your struggle for better pay, health care, and professional development is our struggle.

I want to let you in on a little secret of mine. Whenever I go to a school for the first time, I try to get there early so that I can visit with our ESPs.

There is a reason why I do this.

I want to find out whether the ESPs are comfortable, confident, and secure in knowing that they are important members of the school team, because that tells me a lot about the school.

For me, there is no such thing as "just a" cafeteria worker or "just a" custodian or "just a" bus driver--no way! Every single person who works in a school or a school district office makes a contribution to the students' education. And every education support professional that I know seems to do many jobs.

One minute a school secretary might be trying to get the principal organized, and the next minute she may be comforting a feverish child who is waiting for his mother to pick him up from school. At the same time that a cafeteria worker serves lunch, she might be coaxing a smile out of a sad-faced child. A custodian may go from fixing a broken boiler to helping a student fix a broken bike. And when not behind the wheel, a bus driver might very well be collecting warm winter clothes for children who do not have them.

ESPs work closely with our students and care deeply about what happens to them. It's that simple. You are the unsung heroes of our schools. Almost always underpaid and often underappreciated, you help to create an environment in our schools that is safe and conducive to learning.

I've always been a great believer that "attitude determines altitude," and you spread that positive, can-do attitude that can lift up an entire school. What's more, you provide our schools with a vital link to our communities because most of you live where you work. You often know a student's parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles--and you know the hopes and dreams they've invested in their kids. You can play a crucial role in getting families more involved in their children's education.

As a teacher, there is something else I've long appreciated about ESPs. You really sympathize with how hard we must work. I remember one special education paraprofessional telling me: "The teacher I work with does the IEPs, the behavior modification plans, and the paperwork required by the state and federal governments. I assist her in implementing her plans. But at the end of the day, she has to take the job home with her."

I wish that I could wave a wand, and every single ESP in every public school would instantly receive the living wage and health care coverage that you deserve--and the professional development that you hunger for. I cannot. But please know that I am focused and committed to NEA working diligently to achieve these goals for you as well as other educators.

I am also focused and committed to doing everything we can to see that classroom paraeducators receive the education and professional development they need to fulfill the requirements of the newly reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act. I say we turn the challenge of this new law into an opportunity.

NEA is a family made up of ESPs, teachers, higher education faculty, and student and retired educators who work together in the name of children, students, and public education--that's what we are all about. Whatever affects one of us, affects us all. That is why NEA appreciates and honors you!

Comments? E-mail Reg Weaver at RegWeaver@nea.org.