These people have observed the respect that our Association has earned. They compare the way we are treated by management with the way they, as a small local, are treated. Since then, I've realized that I represent not just one classification but all members of the Association. There's no difference between a teacher and an education support person when one is facing termination for disciplinary reasons. Nor is there a difference when a member needs sick leave to care for a loved one.
Health benefits are a concern for all members.
When a school committee attacks one bargaining unit's health benefits, it follows as surely as the sun rises in the east that the committee will seek the same reduction in benefits for every other unit in the system. In short, there is more that unites us than divides us. It has been said that a leader must have fire in the belly. Leadership does not depend on our classification but on that fire. There are teachers who have it, and there are ESP who have it.