The ESP Bill of Rights: From Growing Momentum to Empowering Success
MSEA’s 2024 ESP Conference
Join us for MSEA’s 2024 ESP Conference, The ESP Bill of Rights: From Growing Momentum to Empowering Success. We’re hosting support staff from across the state to grow, learn, and continue the progress the amazing platform that the ESP Bill of Rights has given our cause.
Check out our keynote speaker and the workshops we’re offering!
Stand Up and Fight!
Special guest and keynote speaker Pete Dominick is a podcaster, stand-up comic, speaker, and news commentator who worked as the warmup comic for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. You may have seen him as CNN’s man on the street, which led to him becoming a regular panel commentator, eventually taking the host role of his own CNN show “What the Week.”
Pete was also the host for a live radio show on SIRIUSXM, “Stand Up with Pete Dominick.” The show welcomed several expert guests on a broad range of issues and ideas that cultivated a following of similarly curious and passionate folks. He now his own, independent daily podcast that includes two guests each day and a comprehensive 20-30 minute news segment. Learn more about Pete here.
2024 ESP Conference Workshops
Session I: 9:55 a.m. – 10:55 a.m
ESP Employment Rights
Join the MSEA Legal Department for an informational session about your employment rights. Topics include your first amendment rights, resolving student issues, and grievance procedures. Bring your questions!
Presenter: Jamie Sapia, Assistant Counsel/MSEA Center for Legal Affairs
How to Advance in Your Career
In this workshop, you’ll get tips on writing great resumes and cover letters, reflect on your unique skills that will make future employers want to hire or promote you, and receive practical advice to help you feel more confident during your interview.
Presenters: John Carnahan, MSEA UniServ Director; Jana Rossetto-Kennedy, Executive Assistant/MSEA Center for Legal Affairs
Mentoring Matters: A Journey in ESP Mentoring
Congratulations, you’re hired for a new position! You have your ID badge and key to the building. Now what? Who do you contact if you have a question? Members of the Education Support Professionals of Baltimore County have a plan to address that. Join us to hear about our journey in creating a comprehensive onboarding and mentoring program for support professionals that benefits the entire school community.
Presenters: Seleste Harris, MSEA UniServ Director; Jeanette Young, President/Education Support Professionals of Baltimore County
MSEA ESP Bargaining Goals: The Path to a Winning Contract
Using the MSEA ESP bargaining goals as a guide, we’ll discuss how support staff can get the language and salary increases we’re fighting for in our ESP Bill of Rights. Using actual contracts, you’ll learn how to write proposals for the bargaining table that will result in contract wins for you.
Presenters: Sean McKillop, MSEA ESP Organizing Specialist; Cindy Poper, MSEA ESP Organizing Committee
Session II: 11:00 a.m. – Noon
How to Create and Expand your Local ESP of the Year Program
Are you hoping to create a local recognition program for support staff that is both meaningful and sustainable? This session will take a deep dive into the planning and logistics required when organizing a successful ESP of the Year program that honors essential support staff employees.
Presenter: Anne Marie Hines, President/Washington County Educational Support Personnel
Negotiating for Economic Justice for ESP: Analysis of Salary Scales and Wage Sufficiency Data
To formulate more equal and equitable salary requests, local ESP negotiators must understand that equal percentage pay increases for support and certificated staff result in smaller dollar value increases for us because our pay is lower. Year after year, these low value increases keep us further and further from our financial goals. Join us to develop a thorough understanding of the major three sources of salary sufficiency data and how to use data to create powerful spreadsheets that stake our claim to the higher wages we deserve.
Presenters: Sonia D’Urbano, MSEA ESP Organizing Committee; Sam Walters, MSEA ESP Organizing Committee
Organizing and Advocacy: A Look at the History of NEA and MSEA
Our movement for great public schools and the rights of educators began in 1857 in Philadelphia. Since then, we have grown to over 3 million members. In this session you’ll learn more about NEA’s legacy as a labor union and civil rights organization. History is not only a review of the past, but also an explanation of the present.
Presenters: Stephanie Dowell, MSEA Year-Round ESP Bill of Rights Organizer/Harford County; Sean McKillop, MSEA ESP Organizing Specialist
Public Speaking: How to Get More People to See Things the Way You Do and Help Spread Your Message
The best people to communicate the issues facing support staff are support staff members! Too often ESPs are overlooked, but that changes when we use our collective voice to tell our stories. This session will review the best techniques to use when speaking publicly about issues such as the ESP Bill of Rights to school boards, county executives, parents, and other allies.
Presenter: Patti Mullins, MSEA Public Affairs Specialist
Session lll: 12:55 p.m. – 1:55 p.m.
Becoming: Your Journey as a Leader, Part 1
Two-session workshop; part two continues at 2 p.m.
Are you ready to embrace the leader you are already becoming? In this workshop, we’ll work through a framework of leadership competencies that position you to take charge of your future and create a plan to help you achieve your personal and professional goals, connect more deeply to your core values, expand ideas, and examine your beliefs of leadership. No matter where you are on your journey, you’ll rediscover the leader inside you.
Presenter: Stacy Tayman, President/Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff
How to Best Use the Labor Management Committee Process to Resolve Issues
Nearly every union has a process to regularly meet with human resources to discuss employee concerns and questions. Sometimes these meetings work well, and sometimes they don’t. In this session we’ll review how to best use this process to address the issues and concerns of our members.
Presenter: Michael Spahr, MSEA Organizer/Political and Legislative Affairs
10 Ways to Put Your Member Communications into Hyperdrive
Feeling spacey about how to best use your local union’s social media? Wish that your newsletters were more forceful? Need to make sure your local communications haven’t gone to the dark side? Attend this training, you must! We’ll cover topics like improving your member communications, effectively using social media, utilizing a Race Class Narrative, and more, along with an ample dose of Star Wars puns appropriate for May the 4th!
Presenter: Adam Mendelson, MSEA Assistant Executive Director/Public Affairs
UPS Workers, Autoworkers, and Educators: What Support Staff Can Learn from Big Contract Campaigns
Union members across the country are organizing and effectively getting better pay and benefits by preparing contract campaigns. Do you want to learn how you and your coworkers can win big too? Join us to dissect autoworker and UPS negotiating strategies and learn how to apply those lessons to your workplace.
Presenter: Dan Chambers, MSEA Organizer/Political and Legislative Affairs
Session IV: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Becoming: Your Journey as a Leader, Part 2 (Continued from Session III)
Presenter: Stacy Tayman, President/Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff
Coping with Difficult Personalities
There are several recognized categories of “difficult personalities.” How does a person survive dealing with one, let alone multiples? Participants will learn practical and realistic techniques to help them cope with and survive interacting with these “problem” individuals. A sense of humor is a prerequisite for this workshop.
Veronica Henderson, MSEA Board of Directors
The ESP Bill of Rights Is Breaking Barriers: From Growing Momentum to Empowering Success
Economic justice is a building block in the global fight for racial and social justice. This session will outline MSEA’s ESP Bill of Rights campaign, show how it connects to the larger racial and social justice struggle, and elevate examples of intersectional coalitions who organized to advance the racial, social, and economic justice movement.
Presenter: Tina Dove MSEA Organizational Specialist/Equity Organizer
MSEA ESP Bargaining Goals: The Path to a Winning Contract
Using the MSEA ESP bargaining goals as a guide, we’ll discuss how support staff can get the language and salary increases we’re fighting for in our ESP Bill of Rights. Using actual contracts, you’ll learn how to write proposals for the bargaining table that will result in contract wins for you.
Presenters: Sean McKillop, MSEA ESP Organizing Specialist; Cindy Poper, MSEA ESP Organizing Committee
Questions? Contact Sean McKillop at [email protected].