Greetings, MTA members,
I spent a week in August with my family in Woods Hole. One of my favorite activities there is biking along the Shining Sea bike path. This year, when I got to the end in North Falmouth, I noticed a sign on the wooden kiosk with maps and information about the natural wonders along the route. The plaque said very simply: “Built by Lawrence School 8th Grade Engineering Students, February 2016.” No doubt guided expertly by educators – contact me if that was you! – these eighth-graders had learned and used newfound knowledge and skills on this real-life project. I suspect it was one of the more meaningful experiences they had that year. When given space and time, this is the kind of education you all want to provide – relevant, meaningful, hands-on, collaborative and joyful.
Having together won an overwhelming victory on Question 2, and put the high-stakes aspect of the MCAS to bed, we will soon engage in a battle over our high school graduation requirements. Some of those who lost Question 2 now want to figure out another way to return to the same tired, top-down, state-driven, standardized approach to assessing our students.
Instead, we should be modeling for the rest of the country what a system of assessment looks like that values deeper learning.
In their book, “In Search of Deeper Learning,” Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine conclude in their exhaustive study of dozens of high schools (including a few in Massachusetts): “Everywhere we went, teachers and students told us that the external assessments were pushing against deep learning … If American society is to get serious about deeper learning, we will need to change how schools and students are externally assessed … There is no shortage of potential models that could be adopted or adapted … The key to any of these systems is that they do not incentivize the narrowing of curricula or reward the ability to succeed on low-level multiple choice tests; instead, they position the accountability system to reward deeper learning.”
In the coming months, we’ll call on you to share your stories of what is uniquely successful in your schools – and also what kills the joy of learning among your students.
MTA Events, Opportunities and Solidarity Actions
Ballot Initiatives
The Attorney General approved 44 ballot initiatives for the November 2026 election. Now, advocates need to gather around 75,000 valid signatures to secure a spot on the ballot. While the MTA has not endorsed any initiatives – the Board will take them up at future meetings – I already have heard that several are likely of great interest to members, including two that would dramatically cut taxes and hurt investments in public education, and a few – on rent control, creating a more transparent Beacon Hill, and a fairer system of pay for legislators – that we previously have supported. Click on the links if you are interested in helping those campaigns gather signatures.
Legislative Hearing: Adjunct Bill of Rights
When: 1 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 11
Where: Room A-1 (or remote), Massachusetts State House
An Act Promoting an Adjunct Bill of Rights makes adjunct faculty who teach half-time or more at one or more public institutions of higher education eligible for a state pension (and the Optional Retirement Program) and health insurance. Learn more, submit testimony and get a link to watch the hearing live.
Protect Public Higher Education From Federal Cuts
Join higher education members, activists and community members as we advocate for our cities and towns to adopt our Public Higher Education Federal Fight Back Resolution to address federal attacks and funding cuts. Several communities are ready to support this effort. On Sept. 11, the Somerville City Council is expected to take up the resolution. On Oct. 8, the Easthampton City Council is slated to consider the resolution. Sign up to support these efforts and download a copy of the resolution.
Join a Fiscal Crisis Action Team
When: 5 - 6 p.m. on Sept. 15, Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 8
Where: Virtual
Join MTA members, parents, students, community activists and municipal leaders from across the Commonwealth as we take strategic action to win legislative and budgetary fixes to the growing fiscal crisis impacting public schools and colleges across the Commonwealth. All are welcome! Register here.
Education Hearing: Urge Legislators to Listen to Educators on Literacy
When: 11 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16
Where: Joint Committee on Education, Gardner Auditorium, State House
Legislation before the Joint Committee on Education would mandate the use of specific literacy curriculum and place in state law a flawed definition of “evidence-based literacy instruction” that would restrict educators from implementing effective practices. Please write to your legislators today to urge them to listen to educators in their district and oppose this legislation. The Education committee is holding a hearing on the bill on Sept. 16, so we also ask that you complete this form to let us know if you are interested in testifying on the bill, either in person, virtually or in writing.
All Presidents’ Meeting – Sept. 16 Registration Deadline
When: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20 (Breakfast starts at 8 a.m. Lunch will follow when the meeting ends.) Where: Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center, 1657 Worcester Road, Framingham
Please join us as we celebrate some recent victories and continue to build stronger locals and a stronger MTA!
Note: While this event is aimed at local presidents, MTA members are invited to attend, including NEA Directors, Board members and local members. If you are a member who would like to attend, please ask your local president. Each local president who registers will receive a unique registration link that allows them to add members as guests – please email MTAGovernance@massteacher.org if you have not received this. We urge presidents to invite a few local leaders/activists. COLA Legislative Hearing
When: 1 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 17
Where: Joint Committee on Public Services, Room B-2 State House (or remote)
An Act to Provide Fair and Affordable Public Retiree Benefits (H.2812/S.1817) ensures increased economic security for retired public employees, including by raising the base on which the annual state pension COLA is calculated from $13,000 to $18,000. The COLA base has not been raised in over a decade. To provide spoken testimony (in-person or remotely), please email Sara Ramram at sramram@massteacher.org by Monday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. Click here to submit written testimony. Click here to watch the hearing live. Sign Up: Raise Up Massachusetts Town Hall
When: Sept. 18 through Oct. 28
Where: Regional meetings
Our Raise Up Massachusetts coalition is convening town hall meetings around the state this fall to discuss how we can fight back against federal cuts. These meetings will bring together unions, community leaders and legislators to strategize about how we can tap the state’s rainy day fund and pass Corporate Fair Share legislation to protect education and other key public services. RSVP to attend a town hall in your area. Meetings begin Sept. 18 in Hyannis for the Cape and Islands region, and continue through October.
Support Safe and Healthy Learning Environments
Educators in Massachusetts are confronting career-affecting issues that impact staff, students and school governance in every regional district – from widespread, unmet mental health needs among students to inadequate staffing levels that compromise safe and healthy learning environments for all educators. The MTA’s Safe Schools for All Task Force is supporting all educators by organizing in-person regional safety caucus meetings. For more information, please contact Scott Fulmer at sfulmer@massteacher.org. Meetings are scheduled on Sept. 29 for the Southeastern region; Oct. 8 for the Northeastern region and Oct. 9 for Metro and the Central regions.
Bargaining for Heat Protections
Health and safety are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining. While we wait for Governor Healey’s heat illness prevention standard, the MTA Environmental Health and Safety Committee advises MTA members to consider bargaining for solutions to classroom heat conditions, including through water availability, cooling spaces, limits to physical activity, improved planning and communication, continuous air-quality monitoring fans, air conditioning, heat pumps and building insulation. Every employer should understand that the optimal temperature for learning ranges from 68 to 74 degrees, and student performance declines as temperature deviates in either direction away from 72 degrees.
For more guidance, contact your field rep organizer or MTA Health and Safety Organizer Scott Fulmer at sfulmer@massteacher.org.
What Should Graduates Know? Attend the People’s Forum on Graduation Readiness
When: 6-7:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 29
Where: Worcester YWCA, 2nd floor board room, 1 Salem Square, Worcester
Please attend the Worcester session of the People’s Forum on Graduation Readiness. The forum, organized by Citizens for Public Schools, will consider what students should be able to do by the time they graduate, how they should demonstrate readiness to graduate and how schools, preK-12, can support these goals. Register here.
Registration Opens: Honor Our Own Luncheon
When: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 7
Where: Publick House Historic Inn & Country Lodge, Sturbridge
Registration has opened for the Honor Our Own Luncheon. The 2025 event will honor Chandler Creedon Jr., a veteran school psychologist who worked throughout central and eastern Massachusetts, including in the Franklin public school system for 32 years.
Interested in Attending 2025-2026 National Conferences?
The MTA is accepting applications for members to request funding to attend national conferences through this academic year. This is a great opportunity for members to immerse themselves in union education and job-specific education while engaging with members across the country. National conferences provide an opportunity to learn from renowned leaders, share stories with other members and learn from one other. Limited funding is available. Space is limited. If interested in applying for funding for one or more educational conferences, please fill out this survey.
Political Education
As you can tell by the fact that “political education” is a section in every MTA Union News, I think that continuing our political education is really important. One of the fundamental issues we have to confront and learn more about is the stunning wealth and inequality in our Commonwealth and nation. We can’t win the schools and colleges – and the society – that our communities deserve if we do not understand how much is in the hands of so few, and how little is in the hands – and schools and colleges, hospitals and housing – of the many.
You may have seen that former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (and onetime Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate) has retired from University of California Berkeley. His last class was featured in a recent documentary. But you can still take the class online! Check out the first class and I think you might be hooked. If you want to skip over some of the preliminaries, start at minute 14:30.
In solidarity,
Max
