180 ATTENDED SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON TUESDAY!
· NESPA MEMBERS SPOKE FROM THEIR HEARTS TO BOARD: PLEASE RESPECT & VALUE ALL EDUCATORS!
· CONGRATS AND THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO ATTENDED!
Dear NESPA Colleague,
THANK YOU to all who attended last Tuesday's School Board meeting! It really was AMAZING! YOU made it AMAZING!
If you were there, please tell your colleagues about this amazing event! If you weren’t there, here’s some of what you missed:
· 180 of us—including some teachers---filled the room.
· We stood up in support of NESPA Co-Presdident Deb Murphy’s statement, and raised our bright green signs: “Please RESPECT and VALUE ALL Educators.”
· Deb to Board: “ You have the responsibility to re-evaluate Northshore’s employment model for educational support staff. It is not acceptable to us anymore, and should not be acceptable to you.” Deb told them about WEA’s efforts statewide to win living wages for Educational Support Professionals. She read the story of a Special Ed Para who, after years of working in Northshore at Kokanee, is looking for another job because she can no longer afford the low hours and pay.
· Deb provided each Board member, the Supt. and his cabinet, and the administration’s Bargaining Team with the stories you provided. And the petitions with 675 signatues!
· NESPA members spoke eloquently and from their hearts: Dawn Schmidt (WHS, SpEd Para), Janice Seino (Lockwood, ELL), Mavis Roe (TJH,SpEd Para) Jeanne Rachner (Crystal Sp Nurse), Kim Leatherman (Cottage Lk SpEd Para), Karen Tarr (Inglemoor SpEd Para), Kathy Halleran (Sunrise SpEd Para), Joanne McDaniel (Maywood LAP/Title Para), and Jan Fitzgerald (Inglemoor, SpEd Para).
· The speakers told their stories. What their work consists of (“I teach.”); the skills involved (“It took years to learn to do this well.”); why they do it (“I love this work. I was made for it.”) ; and, for some, the sacrifices it has entailed in supporting their families (“I’m a nurse, and I woke up at 3:30 am for 15 years to deliver newpapers 365 days per year, as my second job.”)
We hope that the School Board is beginning to understand what this is about. And what they can do to help. We’ll be emailing you some info to your HOME email later this week. Be sure to check it. If you don’t get home emails from NESPA, email me, and we’ll add you to the list.
The next negotiating session is Tuesday, May 18—next Tuesday. There have been no agreements thus far on any of the important issues.
CONGRATS and THANK YOU for being there last Tuesday. For being there for yourself, for your colleagues, for your students, and for your schools.
The next NESPA gathering for EVERY NESPA member is the MEMBERSHIP MEETING AND VOTE on Wednesday, June 16 @ 4 PM, at BHS Cafeteria/Commons. Please don’t miss it. We’ll get a complete update, and either vote on a tentative agreement reached by our Bargaining Team, or vote on what action to take. Please put this on your calendar!
TOGETHER, we are respected and valued!! Thank you again!!
Kraig
