Highlighting the critical importance of public education in the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, Democratic candidates Maura Healey and Sonia Chang-Díaz met virtually with MTA members at three recent forums.
With Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito not seeking re-election, the field is wide open for those who want to occupy the corner office in the State House. Healey and Chang-Díaz, who have both worked closely with the MTA in the past, are leading candidates seeking the support of educators.
Healey, the state’s current attorney general, and Chang-Díaz, a state senator, first heard from MTA members of color and then individually attended sessions during which MTA members described their working conditions and the learning conditions of their students. Hundreds of MTA members participated in the events, which took place in March, in advance of the work of the union’s Candidate Recommendation Committee.
MTA President Merrie Najimy and Vice President Max Page moderated the conversations. Najimy told MTA members that this year’s gubernatorial race can be a "game changer for education."
Najimy framed the conversations as opportunities to address the challenges that educators have been facing for decades — not just during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She brought up the impact on public education as income inequality has grown, affecting the quality of life for students and their families as well as for educators and their families; how austerity budgets for public education have become the norm; and how educator autonomy has been usurped by top-down mandates. Public higher education is increasingly growing out of reach for many people in the state because of rising costs. And adjunct faculty members are still being unjustly exploited at public colleges and universities.
"What we need from our next governor is a willingness to reject the ‘brokenschools’ narrative that Democrats and Republicans have been running on for 30 years and instead to be relating to educators, students and families to learn what the conditions are — what the circumstances are in our schools and in our society," Najimy told members attending one of the forums.
MTA members brought forward a variety of issues. They pressed for the need for alternative assessments of the work happening in preK-12 schools and an end to the MCAS graduation requirement.
They described the impact of austerity budgeting on public college campuses, such as the reduction of library services, and what that means for students. They called for changes to teacher licensure as a way to boost the racial and ethnic diversity of the state’s teaching force. They raised the issue of eliminating the laws that prohibit public-sector unions from going on strike. They challenged the candidates to make public higher education accessible to all students in the Commonwealth.
And the list went on over the course of the sessions, each of which lasted more than an hour. The candidates did as much listening as talking, and MTA members provided even more input via the online chat function.
Both Healey and Chang-Díaz pledged to be good working partners with the MTA.
In conversations with MTA members, candidates call education a vital issue "I believe big time that we have an opportunity to make transformational change in the state, and we are going to do it through education," Healey said. "Massachusetts enshrined education as a constitutional right; that is a value statement and that is something the next governor needs to live."
Chang-Díaz said she views public education, from prekindergarten to college, as central to any efforts to increase opportunities.
"We need to elect a governor who will not just say the right words but has shown she will take action on tough fights, even when it is not politically convenient, in order to deliver the bold, transformational change we have been waiting for," Chang-Díaz said. "Educators need a real voice and a seat at the decision-making table."
As MTA Today went to press, the CRC was reviewing candidates. The committee will make recommendations to the Board of Directors.
NEEDED AN AMBULANCE?
YOU’LL NEED ANOTHER WHEN YOU SEE THE BILL.
Ambulances and airlifts aren’t always covered by Medicare. One trip can cost $50,000 or more. With the Medical Air Services Association (MASA), you’ll get best-in-class emergency transportation 24/7 from home or anywhere in the world. No premiums, deductibles or other hassles.
An endorsed service of
Learn more: 1.833.852.7202
