They came for the camaraderie, for networking and skill building. And many of the Education Support Professionals who gathered in April for the in-person 2022 MTA ESP Conference say they gained valuable information about how to negotiate better contracts and assert their rights.
Virginia Stepper, a paraprofessional in Bedford, said she appreciates talking to fellow ESPs about their districts, their contracts, and what is happening across the state.
"I come every year," Stepper said. "I come for the professional development. I come for the friendships I develop. I find it very insightful. I’ve learned that all districts are certainly not the same."
She took careful notes in a session on negotiations in which presenters explained that some ESP contracts now include professional status — and greater job security — after four years.
"I learned about these different rights," Stepper said. "I always learn something new."
More than 150 educators from across Massachusetts attended the event, MTA’s first inperson conference in two years. It was held on April 1 and 2 at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in Falmouth.
MTA Benefits helped sponsor the conference and had a popular table featuring prizes in the event space. The attendance was capped this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, an in-person ESP Conference draws about 400 attendees.
The conference featured breakout sessions on union building and bargaining, as well as professional development workshops aimed at expanding the diversity of reading choices for young students and easing conversations about race among colleagues.
Yahaira Rodriguez, chair of the MTA ESP Committee, led a session called "Creating Space to Talk about Race."
It’s important for educators to embrace the diversity of the workplace and their students, she said, and avoid microaggressions. Among other things, Rodriguez has overheard school colleagues chiding Spanish-speaking students for speaking in their first language.
"We are working with students who are leaving everything, leaving their culture," Rodriguez said. "Then telling them here that they can’t speak their language."
Nicole Jdey, a paraprofessional, attended several sessions at the conference, including one on bargaining contracts. Her local, the Walpole Teachers Association, is in negotiations now, and Jdey found the shared information at the conference helpful in gaining "more knowledge about what to advocate for."
It wasn’t all work. The second day of the twoday event started with an invigorating early morning Zumba workout led by Naomi Akan, the newly named 2022 MTA Education Support Professional of the Year. Among other accomplishments, Akan started an after-school Zumba club at her school, the Lt. Peter Hansen Elementary School in Canton.
She was honored with the award at the traditional opening night dinner.
Speaking to ESPs at the Friday dinner, Akan, an Applied Behavior Analysis tutor, credited leadership development programs, including the union’s Leadership Weekends, for helping her meet union siblings and grow professionally.
Akan was among the ESPs who helped to develop the MTA PreK-12 ESP Bill of Rights.
"Because of the ESP Bill of Rights, we are negotiating a seismic and very ambitious living wage for our members," she said. She encouraged fellow ESPs to continue to advocate for themselves.
Among other aspects of her work with the union, Akan was a building representative for her local, the Canton Teachers Association. She now occupies a seat on the MTA Board of Directors, representing not just fellow ESPs but all members in her district.
"I want to say, ‘Don’t give up,’" Akan told other educators. "Believe in yourself. There is nothing like a strong collective, which is what we have. Remember that you have the power in you to fight."
One of the recent developments for ESPs is the Leadership Mentoring Program. It pairs veteran leaders among Education Support Professionals, including several members who preceded Akan as ESP of the Year, with members who have started developing their leadership potential.
The program is part of a movement for relevant professional development for ESPs — not simply addons to what teachers are getting. "We’re not doing that anymore," Akan said. "We want to create programs that we know are for us, by us. For ESPs, by ESPs."
Sonia Fortin, a former MTA ESP of the Year who now works as a regional representative for the MTA, is among the mentors in the program.
"We’re supporting ESPs who want to take on more space in the union," Fortin said in an interview. "It’s about leadership. It’s about individuals having their own journey and path but mentoring them through the process so they can be successful in whatever they want to do."
The MTA leadership encouraged ESPs at the conference to continue organizing, advocating and fighting for their rights.
"This is your MTA. This is your weekend," said MTA President Merrie Najimy. "Let’s continue to build relationships and fight the fights together."
Najimy noted that in recent years, the MTA has become more inclusive for all educators — including ESPs at all levels and faculty and staff at public colleges and universities — as well as continuing to strongly represent preK-12 teachers.
The ESP Bill of Rights is currently gaining momentum across the state. ESPs have formed their own bargaining units and are taking leadership positions within educators’ unions in general. And 63 MTA locals in contract negotiations are putting a living wage for Education Support Professionals high on their bargaining agenda.
"We’re now at a place where because we’ve really opened up the MTA, ESPs are really starting to feel like you own this union," Najimy said, adding: "It’s time to change our name."
Her reference to the ongoing work of the Name Change Task Force, initiated as a result of a new business item at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Delegates, drew a loud whoop and applause from the crowd. The task force has begun a process of surveying members about changing the name of the MTA. Information about the survey and buttons asking "What’s in a Name?" were distributed at the conference.
The ESPs in attendance were the first rank-and-file members to begin to weigh in on the future name of the union, Najimy noted. "Take the buttons back to your local. Take the literature and start the conversation."
MTA Vice President Max Page noted the wave of unionization that is taking place across the country. The day the conference began, the first Amazon warehouse in the U.S. had a successful union vote.
In the exhibit room at the hotel, one of the most popular tables included a photo booth with fun props. During the conference, groups of Education Support Professionals got together to pose during breaks in the sessions. Photo by Jonathan Ng
Within the MTA, locals in Andover, Shrewsbury, Haverhill and Tewksbury have made significant gains in their contracts for ESPs in recent months as part of the Bill of Rights campaign. "This has gone from being an idea we had to a movement across our union," Page said.
Susan Soares, the 2021 MTA ESP of the Year, said the experience had been inspiring and helped her strategize within her local. ESPs are gaining more power collectively, noted Soares, who works in special education at the Stratton Elementary School in Arlington. "Being an ESP of the Year has shown my district that paraprofessionals are more important than just pawns to fill in and put where they’re needed," she said. "It’s elevating the importance of what we do every day for our students and each other in the districts."
For information on ESPs and the MTA PreK-12 ESP Bill of Rights, please visit massteacher.org/esp.
