Where There's Power in Numbers

NEA Today, Apr 2004 by Simon, Matt

An Alabama local's membership drive and new spirit of solidarity influences school district policies.

NEA LOCAL AFFILIATE:

Sumter County (Alabama) Education Support Professionals (SCESP)

THE NUMBERS:

After two rounds of state-mandated budget cuts depleted its ranks in the 2002-03 school year, SCESP mounted an aggressive drive that boosted membership by more than 25 percent-to a total of 144.

THE BACKGROUND:

When Alabama's education budget shrinks, things just get worse in high-poverty Sumter County-and ESPs are usually the first to feel the Ul effects. Upon taking office in july 2003, SCESP President Gwendolyn Carter, a school secretary, realized that the steady erosion of ESP jobs, combined with falling membership, would soon leave her local powerless as a representative of support professionals.

"Even in the best of times, we can't always win," says Carter. "But we were seeing both declining membership and very little membership participation in school board affairs."

Last autumn, Carter launched a membership recruitment campaign to rebuild the Association's strength. She not only took a hands-on role in recruitment, she also hired a recruitment coordinator, Sandra Turner, a 12-year Sumter County school bus driver.

"To rebuild our local, we needed to focus on more than numbers," says Carter. "But we had to start with numbers, and I knew that Sandra could command the respect necessary to bring people into our ranks."

Since beginning her new job last fall, Turner has lured 30 new members to the Association-boosting membership levels higher than before the two rounds of job cuts.

"We still have six ESPs who aren't in the Association, but that's not a bad ratio-and I'm still working on those six," says Turner.

ATTRACTING MEMBERS:

It takes more than persistence to recruit a new Association member. Turner says the secret is really a matter of education.

"SCESP represents members effectively, but nonmembers have often never thought about it," she says. "When I approach potential members, I ask them what they plan to do if they ever have trouble on the job: Go it alone? Hire a lawyer? Take on the school district? For the small amount members pay in dues, they have a very good organization backing them up. I think many more ESPs are aware of their vulnerability since the job cuts."

BUILDING A GROUP IDENTITY:

Building membership was just the local president's first challenge. The second: improving the Association structure to facilitate greater communication among members, building reps, and officers-and greater interaction between officers and the community. The third challenge: getting members involved.

"We needed an active membership," says Carter. "To get that, we needed to let every member know how much could be accomplished through group involvement. So we worked to build our identity. We designed a new local logo and put it on shirts that we unveiled at a special ESP night in November.

"We brought in county, city, and school officials, along with Alabama Education Association representatives to talk to our ESPs about their jobs," she adds, "And we talked to them about the change they could bring about by becoming 'active' members rather than 'just' members."

WINNING CHANGE:

The message of involvement hit home with SCESP members. Since the November event, many have been regularly attending school board meetings and participating in policy decisions affecting the county.

In a major display of solidarity, Association members recently formed an overflow crowd at a meeting held by the county commissioner. They complained that the school district had been shortchanged funds that should have gone to staff salaries. Under pressure, the commissioner agreed to give up the disputed money, and some of the lost ESP jobs have been restored.

Turner says members she has signed up are responding positively to the Association's new stature. "They feel that acting as a group is making a big difference," she says. "They feel they are real participants in the education process, and they feel more dignity."

-MATT SIMON

FOR MORE, contact Alabama Education Association UniServ Director Tommy Green at Tommyg@alaedu.org.