Local leader receives special award
Larry Hankins
A school district carpenter who helped develop a model union coalition representing educational support professionals (ESP) and teachers is the winner of MEA’s Leon A. Brunner Award.
Larry Hankins, vice president of the Ypsilanti Support Staff Association, received the award Friday at the 2010 ESP Statewide Conference in Troy.
“Larry has shown tremendous leadership qualities,” said Kelly Powers, president of the Ypsilanti Education Association.
Powers nominated Hankins for the award, which is given annually to an MEA member based on dedication to ESP members, compassion for fellow members, and understanding of problems affecting ESP membership.
Hankins is past president of his local union, an affiliate of MEA. As a leader, he has worked tirelessly to advocate for his colleagues. Along with Powers, he put together a coalition of school employees who got involved in school board elections. Hankins also developed relationships with other unions in his community and successfully led the fight against privatization of busing for several years.
Hankins has stepped up to teach others how to be effective advocates, too, by conducting workshops at MEA conferences.
“He truly has shown his dedication to unionism and his love of others,” Powers said.
Read more about Hankins in the June issue of the MEA Voice magazine.
ESP elections
Nominations sought for ESP Caucus Executive Board
Nominations are being accepted for several positions on the MEA ESP Caucus Executive Board.
Openings for three-year terms on the board, beginning Sept. 1, 2010, include:
- Director at large (three positions)
- Directory by classification (one each for custodian, food service, maintenance, and one for minority concerns)
Elections to the ESP board will take place April 24 at the Spring Representative Assembly in Lansing.
Information needed for each candidate includes: name; present occupations; home address; home and work telephone numbers; home e-mail address; school district; name of nominee’s local ESP association and written consent of the candidate running for office. Candidates must be members of MEA/NEA.
If you are interested in running for any of these positions, write: Nancy Knight, MEA/ESP Department, P.O. Box 2573, East Lansing, Mich., 48826-2573, or e-mail her at NKnight@mea.org.
MEA celebrates contributions of ESP members
The latest winner of the Leon A. Brunner Award, Clare Hoover, second from right, is flanked by her sisters.About 330 Educational Support Professionals attended the 2009 ESP Statewide Conference. The March 20-21 event commemorated the 25th anniversary of the merger between the Michigan Educational Support Professional Association and the Michigan Education Association. Participants also honored Clare Hoover of Grand Rapids, who won the Leon A. Brunner Award, and Joyce Phelps, an MEA lobbyist who received the ESP Hall of Fame Award.
Read a resolution adopted by the MEA Board of Directors that honors the contributions of ESP members.
Watch a slide show of pictures from the ESP Conference.
Read a press release about the winner of the Leon A. Brunner Award.
MEA Launches the Privatization Complaint Box
In order to balance the one-sided media coverage of privatization, the MEA has launched the Privatization Complaint Box, a service that will allow school workers to file a complaint about shoddy work by privateers doing the jobs that used to be done by school employees.
MEA receives these complaints often enough that an effort to collect them in an organized and searchable form is indicated. The complaint box will serve as a storehouse of complaints that can then be used for media inquiries and to generate statistics to counter those published by conservative think tanks.
The complaints can also be used to put the school’s administration on notice that shoddy work is not going unnoticed and that they are being made accountable for the decision to outsource this work.
Troy custodian Mel Sledzinski named Michigan School Support Person of Year
State Board of Education President Kathleen Straus congratulates Troy school custodian and MEA member Mel Sledzinski.
Head custodian Mel Sledzinski started his day on May 1 getting the gymnasium at Wass Elementary School in Troy ready for special visitors and a special student assembly.
State school superintendent Mike Flanagan and State Board of Education members Kathleen Straus and Elizabeth Bauer were coming to Wass to recognize students and staff for their continued outstanding performance on the mathematics portion of the MEAP test.
Little did ‘Mr. Mel’ know that he was getting the gym ready for his own surprise party.
Report urges caution for schools contracting out support services
MEA ESP Caucus president calls study ‘a quantitative, unbiased resource we can use to fight privatization.’
A new report that examines the outsourcing of transportation, food and custodial services in public schools urges caution before rushing to privatize.
Vermont school administrators Drs. William Mathis and Lorna Jimerson say in their report that privatizing sometimes saves districts money, but many times it does not. Read more.
Updated: March 22, 2010 12:56 PM
