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NEA EdAction Oct 10 2021
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MTA President’s Message Oct 6th 2021
From MTA President Merrie Najimy
Greetings,
It has been a busy month at the State House. Among other developments, MTA Vice President Max Page and I testified alongside MTA members in favor of a slate of bills that would address the need for transformative investments in public education that our students and educators deserve – and which will lead to a recovery that is centered on equity and racial justice.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the unprecedented challenges in our public schools and colleges and will continue to shape them in the years to come. MTA members who are part of the MTRS spoke to the Legislature in September about the urgency of having the opportunity to buy years of service allowing for an early retirement with financial security and dignity. Read on to learn more about where in the process the early retirement bill stands.
Others spoke recently about the MCAS system of test and punish that diminishes time for learning and planning and deepens racial inequities.
And last week, we testified that the once-in-a-generation funds allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act will present us with the resources to meet the urgency of this moment. One of the areas where this urgency is most clearly seen is in public education infrastructure, so that students and educators have safe, healthy, and green buildings in which to learn and work. The state must include school and campus facilities in upcoming appropriations of ARPA funds.
Continuing to Push on the Early Retirement Bill
H.2620/S.1791, An Act to provide a retirement enhancement opportunity for certain members of the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System, is a high priority for the MTA. This legislation gives us the opportunity to both bring justice to our eligible members and put the state on a new path to diversify our educator workforce. This bill, along with H.584/S.365, An Act relative to anti-racism, equity and justice in education, and H.583/S.338, An Act ensuring diversity in public education, will help us further the goal of racial justice in education. The hundreds of members who have already taken action on the bill demonstrate to the Legislature how much it matters. The legislation is currently being reviewed by the Joint Committee on Public Service following its hearing on Sept. 1.
While the hearing sent a powerful message to the committee and showed how personal the issue is for so many of our dedicated educators, it is just one part in a multi-step legislative process. Please click here for more resources, including an outline of the many steps of the legislative process with a note about where we are today.
Max and I, along with our Government Relations staff, continue to work directly with the committee and other stakeholders and decision-makers to move this bill forward and to demonstrate its importance.
You can keep up the pressure by recording a video and emailing your legislators to urge them to support H.2620/S.1791 and push for a favorable report out of the committee.
Extended COVID-19 Emergency Paid Leave Provisions
The MTA and its allies, as part of the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, secured another victory recently: The state’s COVID-19 pandemic sick time program has been extended through March 2022.
This extension of paid leave as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic is an important public health benefit for all Massachusetts workers.
Join us for the Bargaining Summit on Nov. 13
This year’s Bargaining Summit will bring local associations even further toward maximizing bargaining power and union strength. Join us to explore the exciting possibilities of coalition and coordinated bargaining.
Learn how to strategize and to work in solidarity with other MTA members and other education stakeholders to shift the balance of power and win on the issues that are important to us, our students, and our communities.
You’ll hear from locals making gains at the bargaining table. The summit will be held virtually on Saturday, Nov. 13. For more information, click here.
Nominate a Deserving ESP
All of our Education Support Professionals are outstanding! And this is the time of the year when members nominate a deserving ESP to be honored as the MTA ESP of the Year.
This annual MTA award is a great way to acknowledge the unique contributions that ESPs make in our public schools, colleges and universities.
We would like to see every local association nominate at least one person for this award. Let them be overlooked no more! Consider nominating individuals who exemplify the best in:
– Professional practice
– Advocacy
– Association involvement
– Community engagement
– Enhancement of the ESP image
– Personal achievement
The nomination form is available here. The deadline is Friday, Dec. 10. The award will be presented at the 2022 MTA ESP Conference, which is planned for the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in Falmouth April 1-2.
In solidarity,
Merrie
NEA EdAction Oct 3rd 2021
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NEA EdAction Sept 26 2021
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NEA EdAction 9/19/21
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MTA President’s Message – Take Action
From MTA President Merrie Najimy
Greetings,
Earlier this week, I testified before the Legislature in favor of a set of bills calling for a transformation of public education that all of our students deserve. Education justice and racial justice are inextricably linked, and the last 18 months have exacerbated the inequities affecting all communities – but especially Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian-American communities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also laid bare what we have known for years to be true: The system of white supremacy is embedded within all institutions in our society – including public education. As I testified on Monday, I named just a few ways that we see it in public education: through white-centric curriculum that perpetuates lies and alienates students of color, in the failure to create a pipeline for and recruitment of a diverse educator force, and in the racist outcomes of the MCAS tests.
The pending legislation has brought great excitement among communities of educators and students of color where – now more than ever – we need to demand that our pedagogy, curricula and materials are reflective, affirming, and uplifting for BIPOC students to ensure they will excel in school.
Testify at Our MCAS Hearing Next Week
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will soon release data from last spring’s MCAS tests. But it won’t tell us anything we didn’t already know: that our students with low-income backgrounds and our Black and brown students experience ongoing structural racism in the form of underfunding of public schools and public health, along with housing, food, and income insecurity. These conditions impact learning. These students have also been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Focusing on MCAS results, especially now, adds unnecessary stress at a time when all of our students are coming back to classrooms with social, emotional and academic needs that we don’t yet fully understand. You are working with our students to build community and regain a semblance of wholeness in this new school year. Shifting the conversation to MCAS scores will deter us from the immediate goal of coping with our students’ needs.
The MCAS undermines the progressive change that MTA members have fought to achieve for years. Next week, our MCAS legislation is being heard by the Joint Committee on Education. Testifying or submitting written or video testimony is the next step you can take to fight the MCAS and further the spring advocacy of our fellow unionists – from the conscientious objectors who refused to proctor the tests in Cambridge and on the South Shore to the many educators who helped in the viral opt-out movement. Read on for information about how to participate.
Legislative Priorities
When we fight, we will win. Here are ways to fight the MCAS as well as advance other key legislative priorities the MTA is actively involved in pursuing:
- Joint Committee on Education Hearing: Reimagining MCAS and Academic Achievement bill – Sept. 20 at 11 a.m.
- S.293/H.612, An Act expanding opportunities to demonstrate academic achievement, filed by Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Jim Hawkins, would eliminate the high-stakes nature of the MCAS tests and promote alternative assessment methods.
- Email your legislators to urge them to support S.293/H.612!
- Record a video to explain why this bill is so important!
- To sign up to testify at the hearing, email mlabonte@massteacher.org.
- Find out more about this legislation.
- S.293/H.612, An Act expanding opportunities to demonstrate academic achievement, filed by Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Jim Hawkins, would eliminate the high-stakes nature of the MCAS tests and promote alternative assessment methods.
- Joint Committee on Ways and Means Hearing: American Rescue Plan Act funding
- The ARPA is designed to address challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and to accelerate our nation’s recovery in a way that is equitable, sustainable and just. Learn more about the MTA’s ARPA priorities.
- Joint Committee on Public Service Hearing: Adjunct faculty fair working conditions bill
- S.1732/H.2723, An Act to provide fair working conditions for public higher education adjunct faculty, filed by Senator Pat Jehlen and Representative Paul Mark, would increase the benefits and protections for the Commonwealth’s public higher education adjunct faculty.
- Joint Committee on Education Hearing: Reimaging teacher licensure bill
- S.338/H.583, An Act ensuring diversity in public education, filed by Senator Adam Gomez and Representative Nika Elugardo, would allow for alternative measures of proficiency for educator licensure candidates rather than relying exclusively on the MTEL system.
Please be on the lookout for additional updates on these and other hearings, as well as information on how you can share your support for MTA priorities with your legislators.
MTA Supports Climate Rally
In another important development, the MTA Executive Committee voted recently to endorse the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition’s strike next week and subsequent events this year.
As many of you know, climate justice is racial justice. It is economic and social justice. We are proud of our students – and it is our responsibility to support them.
We stand in solidarity with students in treating climate change as the existential emergency that it is and demanding that our leaders act strongly and ethically on global warming.
MTA educators, along with environmental justice allies and students, will meet at the Boston Public Garden and march to the Massachusetts State House at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24. Learn more and sign up.
In solidarity,
Merrie
Massachusetts Teachers Association
2 Heritage Drive
8th Floor
Quincy, MA 02171
United States
NEA EdAction September 12 2021
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NEA EdAction – Help Needed Cancel Educator Student Debt
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Action Needed on Early Retirement Bill
From MTA President Merrie Najimy
and Vice President Max Page
A hearing has been scheduled on the MTA-backed early retirement legislation!
Act NOW to tell your story about why this proposal is important to you!
The Joint Committee on Public Service has a scheduled a hearing for H.2620/S.1791, An Act to provide a retirement enhancement opportunity for certain members of the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement System. This in large part due to so many members reaching out to their legislators about this important issue and keeping the momentum going through this summer. Thank you!
The hearing will be held virtually on Sept. 1 and begins at 1 p.m. Any member of the public who would like to speak virtually at the hearing can fill out this form on the State House’s website to pre-register. The deadline to sign up to provide live testimony is Monday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m. Though the hearing will start at 1 p.m., we do not know the exact timeframe for when this bill will be discussed as there are more than 30 other bills on the agenda for the same hearing. Please do keep in mind that it may be a very long wait if you would like to speak during that time and speakers are limited to 3 minutes. If you are unable to schedule time to speak, the committee is also encouraging the public to submit written testimony, which you can do on your own by emailing Jessica.Foley@mahouse.gov. Submitted testimony will be accepted until Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 5 p.m. Please be sure to indicate the bill numbers in the subject line of your email if you choose to submit testimony this way.
If you would like to submit a pre-recorded video as part of a package of MTA member videos, you can record a 90-second video through MTA’s platform. We will then be able to submit your story as part of a powerful MTA panel. CLICK HERE TO RECORD YOUR STORY
For more information about this proposed legislation, please click here for a fact sheet on the bill and click here for a Q&A document that answers frequently asked questions. The bill would provide eligible MTRS members with the opportunity to purchase years of service and/or age in order to retire before the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. Eligibility requirements are listed in the fact sheet linked above.
If you have any other questions about the proposal, please email MTA Legislative Coordinator Victoria Reim at vreim@massteacher.org. If you have questions about your specific retirement options, please visit MTA’s retirement planning webpage.
We thank you very much again for your work moving this bill forward. The road will continue after this hearing next week but this is an important step and we will be on the journey together.
In Solidarity,
Merrie and Max