A security officer with a smile and compassionate presence rather than a weapon, Stanley “Ric” Calhoun spends his days at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Wash., herding students out of halls and into classes, directing parents to proper parking, and generally keeping the high school running smoothly.
It’s a critical role that helps the school. But as both a campus security supervisor, and previously when he was a paraeducator, Calhoun said that the status of being in a support role is lower than that of an instructional role, and it’s reflected in pay.
“Oftentimes you can come into another adult’s classroom to support a student, and they don’t even acknowledge that you’re in there,” Calhoun said. “As an educational support professional, there were times that other adults in education treated me as if I was less than.”
Named the 2026 Education Support Professional of the Year by the National Education Association at its annual representative assembly here, Calhoun believes every adult in school matters for students.
He’s among the educators pushing for an “ESP Bill of Rights,” to advocate for better training, pay, and protections for the roughly 2.2 million school support staff, who are more likely than teachers to lack health insurance and need to work two or more jobs.
What would an ‘ESP Bill of Rights’ contain?
The idea of an ESP bill of rights has been fueled by both national teachers’ unions, and campaigns are active in 18 states.
The campaigns advocate for state and federal laws and district policies—some secured through collective bargaining—guaranteeing support staff a “living wage,” considered enough to support an adult and one child in the district, as well as overtime for hourly workers and access to insurance and paid family and medical leave.
It also aims to set minimum staffing levels and protections for support staff against assault by students or parents, and give instructional support staff like paraprofessionals, who frequently work with students with disabilities, training and roles in planning for Individualized Education Programs and behavior intervention plans.
Calhoun, who has three children of his own, said he and other support staff often have to take multiple jobs to make ends meet. As a paraeducator, he held down three jobs; moving to the campus supervisor position allowed him to drop one.
“It allowed me to continue to work with students and have a bit more money,” he said. “Not everyone had those opportunities. I kept seeing these amazing educators and support professionals, who the students really needed and who had built good relationships, leave because they just couldn’t afford it anymore. They were doing two or three jobs, and then that burns them out.”
Federal data confirm that paras tend to have lower salaries than other educators.
And burnout can contribute to a revolving door in schools, leading to declines in school cimate. Teacher shortages have garnered more attention, but in the last six years districts are also experiencing growing shortages among support staff, who are mostly paid by the hour rather than being salaried.
It’s crucial for all adults at school to develop supportive relationships with students, Calhoun said. “With our kids, especially if you’re in a security role, their assumption is that you’re only going to be around if there’s something going wrong,” he said “Making sure that you show up and create relationships when everything’s going right, [that’s] the key to making them see you as another trusted educator on campus.
“We, as adults, forget too often that kids are always watching us, even if we don’t realize they’re watching us, and they’re learning from us all the time,” he said.
