By Christine Fitzgerald, WEA Education Support Professional Representative
When you think of a school, you probably picture teachers at the front of a classroom of eager students. However, behind the scenes and alongside those teachers are the essential staff who keep our schools running, and our students supported. These are Education Support Professionals, or ESPs: the ones who form the backbone of Wyoming’s public education system. They may not always be in the spotlight, but without them, learning simply couldn’t happen.
This includes bus drivers taking children to and from school, cafeteria staff who ensure students have a nutritious meal, secretaries who greet families at the door each day, the custodians who ensure that schools are a safe and healthy environment.
ESPs are also paraeducators who play a vital role in classroom interventions across Wyoming. They support small group instruction and often provide one-on-one help to students with special needs, ensuring more personalized learning and greater inclusion for all students.
These ESPs are often the first and last people our students see during the school day. They make connections that other staff are unable to make, due to the time they spend with them on the playground or working with them in small groups.
According to data from the Wyoming Department of Education, the average annual pre-tax base pay for a full-time food service worker is $26,297. For a bus driver that pay is $32,934 and for a secretary it’s $35,672. With the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Cheyenne costing roughly $1200 per month, which doesn’t leave much money left for basics, such as food, bills, clothing, and transportation. So, it’s no wonder that many ESPs work a second and sometimes third job — not because they want to, but because they have to.
ESPs in Wyoming and across the country are a group of dedicated professionals. They show up every day willing to do whatever task comes their way. They make sure they know what sensory items will help children feel comfortable, they know what foods students can and can’t eat, and they know how to build critical relationships so that children can be successful. There are days when they go home and cry because they are worried about their students.
They work with Wyoming’s most important resource: the future of our state, our children. It’s an insult to these professionals to face such significant and consistent financial struggles while doing a job that is so important.
Education funding for our public schools is critical not only to the success of students, but also so that staff are able to live. One full-time job should be enough for anyone working hard in Wyoming, and this includes our state’s Education Support Professionals, who live in and contribute to the economy of the communities across our state. Studies continue to show that strong public schools foster a strong economy for our state.
Anyone reading this who may be thinking that the ESPs should just find a different job is missing the point. Most of these professionals are proudly working for students and public schools. Unfortunately, ESPs must often find other jobs due to low pay; just look at the job postings for school districts around the state, and you’ll see many such crucial positions that have been unfilled for a long time. Ask any building administrator how lunch happens when there is not enough kitchen staff, or think about how our rural students get to school if there aren’t enough bus drivers for all the routes. Talk to a teacher about how the day went when there was no help in the classroom with 25 students during the required state testing.
Two important things need to happen to improve this situation. The first is that legislators need to fully fund public education, and secondly school districts need to put more of the block-grant funding toward ESP pay. Our ESPs can no longer afford to work for the wages they are offered, and our education system can’t afford to be without them.
We need ESPs, and our ESPs need a living wage. If lawmakers have questions about the importance of these positions or want to learn more about them, I encourage them to reach out to these education professionals in the communities that they represent.
And if you care about the bus drivers, the librarians, the custodians, the cafeteria workers, the office staff, and all the people who help students and who keep schools running every day, contact your legislator and ask them to support public education. Our children are depending on it!
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