IEA Education Support Professional Council

Don’t let cost stop you from experiencing these great learning opportunities!! Apply today!!!

Applications are being accepted for the following conferences:

• 2022 NEA Leadership Summit – due December 17
• 2022 NEA ESP Conference – due December 17

The applications are available on Members Only under EVENTS/Funding.

Applications can either be mailed to the attention of Kathi Griffin, President of IEA, 100 East Edwards Street, Springfield, IL, 62704 or emailed to Courtney Gillespie. 

Any questions regarding funding for the conferences can be directed to Courtney Gillespie.

Our work is not done. The COVID School Employee Wage and Benefit Protection Bill (HB 2778) passed overwhelmingly out of the House and Senate yesterday, but now we need to ensure that Governor JB Pritzker signs it into law immediately.

We’re now accepting workshop session proposals for the 2022 ESP Conference, happening March 25-27, 2022 in New Orleans, LA.

Learn more and submit a proposal by Friday, December 3rd 

Education Support Professionals (ESP) Day is November 17, 2021! Join us to celebrate and advocate for the amazing school support staff who continue to go above and beyond for our school communities.

Click the link below for tons of fabulous resources, stories, and suggested ways to raise wareness to ESP issues.

What is the Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly? The IEA RA convenes every spring where members from across the state come together, brings forth new business items (NBI’s), debate topics, that leads and directs the direction of our organization, and so much more.

Education Support Professionals are essential to the success of our students, and districts. Your voices are essential to help lead our organization and support ESP initiatives. Members who are voted to attend have their expenses paid for by their local/region. Every IEA region office has funds specifically marked for ESPs to attend the RA. Your voice is important!! We need you!!

Have you turned in your nomination form to attend next years representative assembly? If not ask your local leader for a nomination form and more information. You can also contact your local IEA region office for more information. Nomination forms must be turned in soon for your name to make the ballot so don’t wait.

2022 IEA Representative Assembly
April 7-9, 2022
Hyatt Regency O’Hare
Rosemont, IL

Happy Friday!!!

November 17, 2021 – ESP Day

Education Support Professionals (ESP) Day is November 17, 2021! Join us to celebrate and advocate for the amazing school support staff who continue to go above and beyond for our school communities.

We must elevate the important work ESPs do for our school communities and advocate for their professional respect. This includes advocating for better pay and benefits, providing access to more training, protecting jobs, and building back better to strengthen public education for all.

Congratulations! You did it! The Illinois Senate passed the COVID School Employee Benefit and Wage Protection Bill (HB2778) 53-1 and the House 92-23! Here’s what it means for you:It requires districts to provide COVID administrative days to any school or college employees abiding by the vaccination or testing orders to be used for all COVID-related absences like quarantining and testing, so employees will not have to use all of their accrued benefit time during the pandemic.Provides paycheck protection for hourly employees. This means if a school or higher education institution has to close because of an emergency, hourly employees would still receive their full paycheck.Members made more than 1,600 calls to their Representatives over the past few days, urging them to pass the bill and those lawmakers listened. Now, there’s just one more hurdle — getting the governor to sign it! Please take a moment to email Gov. J.B. Pritzker and ask him to sign HB2778 immediately. The law is retroactive to the start of the school year.

Take Action

Thank you for all you do every day on behalf of students in Illinois. And, thank you for taking the time urge the governor to sign this bill into law on behalf of your fellow educators and education employees across the state of Illinois. Great job!

Do you or your children have college student debt? Join us this Thursday for information on how you may be able to cancel your students debt. Don’t miss this extremely valuable information.