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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2002

News Release

Education Support Professional Of the Year Addresses NEA Convention

Colorado School Secretary Wins $10,000 Award

Dallas -- JoAnn Falk of Pueblo, Colo., a gutsy school secretary who briefly lost her job while organizing local education support professionals, knows about the strength that comes from persecution - and the change that can come from an effective bargaining group.

Thanks to ACE (the Association of Classified Employees), an affiliate of the Colorado Education Association and the National Education Association, more than 300 education support professionals (ESPs) in Pueblo School District 70 - secretaries, custodians, maintenance workers, food service workers, paraprofessionals and school bus drivers - have better wages and benefits, more job security and more professional development opportunities.

Falk, named the NEA?s 2002 Support Professional of the Year in April, addressed the organization?s Representative Assembly at its annual meeting here today. The crowd of nearly 9,000 delegates cheered wildly as NEA President Bob Chase introduced Falk as ?a tribute to hardworking education support professionals across the country?JoAnn has put her fellow support professionals and the students they serve first. It takes leaders like JoAnn to make a difference in education,? Chase added.

During ACE?s initial push seven years ago, Falk was fired for allegedly campaigning on school property. During the two weeks she was "unemployed," Falk defied school administrators by campaigning diligently to elect two school board candidates sympathetic to ACE members. ?We made 1,500 calls to parents in the district and distributed 10,000 fliers to every household in an area the size of Rhode Island,? Falk said. ACE candidates won 89 percent of the vote during the biggest turnout in school board history. One of the first items addressed by the new supportive school board was to reinstate Falk. Five months later, the district?s superintendent and legal counsel were gone.

Falk, ACE?s president since 1994, not only won bargaining rights for ESP workers in a state with no collective bargaining agreement, she continues to organize grassroots campaigns for candidates who support public education. Falk also helped design a new program for substitute teachers, start a beautification project for all 15 schools in her district and created an elementary school media center. As ESP of the Year, she receives a $10,000 award. Half will go to the District 70 Education Foundation, which provides funding for special reading, math and science programs.

?I recommend that all education support professionals continue to strive for better working conditions and job security,? Falk told the Representative Assembly. ?I recommend to all teachers?value the support staff in your school buildings and classrooms. We must work as teams to improve education for all our students.?

But most importantly, educators need to be diligent and resourceful, no matter what kind of obstacles they face, says Falk. ?I have been through the toughest of times, which has made me a stronger leader. We all have a responsibility?to model the leadership qualities our students need to become productive citizens in our society.?

NEA?s Representative Assembly closes today.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.