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Education Support Professionals

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David Pickens Is MSEA’s ESP of the Year

ESP of the Year David Pickens with Helen Wilkerson, president, Secretaries and Assistants Association of Anne Arundel County (SAAAAC), and Debbie Schaefer, chair, MSEA’s ESP Organizing Committee. “Regardless of your status, your title, or where you are on a pay scale, you indeed are priceless and vital to the development of young people.” — David Pickens, MSEA […]
School Funding

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Cheryl Bost: Join Me to Fight for Our Schools

MSEA President Cheryl Bost Note Thursday, November 21, 2019 as a historic day for public education in Maryland. That’s when the Kirwan Commission voted 19–3 to send their recommendations, including new funding formulas, to the General Assembly. Brit Kirwan, the chair and namesake of the commission, described the recommendations as, “It’s not perfect, but it’s damn […]
School Funding

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Inside MSEA with David Helfman

MSEA Executive Director David Helfman After more than three years of service on the Kirwan Commission, filled with several dozen full commission and work group meetings, public hearings, and hours of preparation and talking with MSEA members and leaders about commission proposals, I recently cast my final vote as a commission member. In a 19–3 vote, […]
Education Support Professionals

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My Turn: Jameyra Finney

It’s not often that people work at a job they truly love — but I do. I work as a special education instructional assistant, assisting teachers and working one-on-one with students in pre-k through fifth grade. I started working in the school system as a substitute where my former principal saw my passion and dedication and offered […]
Legal Questions

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New Education Law Aims to Keep Students and Educators Safe

“Our jobs are to educate our students in a safe, healthy environment,” said MSEA President Cheryl Bost. “This new law regarding sexual misconduct is intended to add a protective layer to the hiring process to safeguard students’ well-being.” The Law The law*, which went into effect July 1, 2019, requires an applicant for a position […]
Education Support Professionals

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Organizing Works

Members from the four counties are networking and learning from one another at events like the recent ESP Eastern Shore Leadership Training. When education support profession­als on the Eastern Shore won a long, hard-fought battle for collective bar­gaining rights in 2003, it was the very last group of public school education employees in the state […]
Teacher Toolkit

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Two Sisters and Their Toolkits

Photo © Brion McCarthy Photography Brenda Bauer (left) is a 3rd grade teacher at Cresaptown Elementary School. Her sister, Connie Koelker, teaches 6th grade math at Braddock Middle School. Their mother and all six of their first cousins are proud Allegany County educators! 1 BALANCE BEAM (Connie) This is a great visual showing how equations […]
Legal Questions

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A Word from the Legal Team on Online Threats

There is a much under-used provision of the law when it comes to online threats made by students. While it only applies in situations where there is a threat of bodily harm, it applies to threats made online, in email, or on social media. MSEA’s legal team increasingly receives complaints of students sending emails, creating […]
School Funding

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What’s next for school funding?

Part of the massive crowd at the March for Our Schools in Annapolis. (Photo © Stephen Cherry.) After three years of meetings, research, and public hearings about Maryland’s underfunded public schools, on November 21 the Kirwan Commission held its final meeting and took its final votes. So what does it all mean for students, educators, and […]
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