By David James Heiss
Excerpted with permission from the Redlands Daily Facts.
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| CTA Vice President David A. Sanchez meets bus drivers Vickey Johnson (left) and Shellie Topps. In the background are Paula Monroe (left) and Mikki Cichocki. |
CTA Vice President David A. Sanchez and CTA Board member Mikki Cichocki visited with members of the Redlands Education Support Professionals Association in late September and toured Redlands schools with RESPA President Paula Monroe.
With a historic vote in June, CTA’s State Council of Education welcomed ESP members into the organization.
RESPA is the third-largest ESP chapter in California. The official visit gave its 650 members — non-certificated school employees such as office workers, paraprofessionals, custodial staff, security forces, maintenance workers, child nutrition workers and bus drivers — a chance to connect with CTA and a chance for CTA to learn what concerns ESP members.
The official visitors were impressed with the length of service of district support professionals and the number of employees who have family members working in the district. In May, when 39 certificated and classified employees were recognized for their retirements from the district, the average length of time served in the district was 25 years.
“I like the fact that Sanchez took the time to come and meet us and listen to people when they had something to say,” says bus driver Jerry J. Jennings.
“He was really interested in our issues and concerns,” says Monroe, an office worker who, until recently, served on NEA’s Board of Directors. She estimates Sanchez shook hands with 120 to 150 ESP members.
The visitors toured Redlands High School, Redlands East Valley High School, Mentone Elementary School, Clement and Beattie middle schools and Highland Grove Elementary School, concluding with a visit to Superintendent Bob Hodges at the district office.
After the tour, the CTA leaders had an opportunity to mingle with RESPA members at a local restaurant.
Sanchez urged them to get involved in the upcoming November election and to vote for candidate Phil Angelides as the next governor of California. “We believe he’s knowledgeable about education issues, and we think he can make promises without backing down. He also won’t circumvent Proposition 98 funding. All of our jobs are challenging enough without someone reducing funding and creating more obstacles.”