Last updated, 6/16/25
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Access the current issue of “The EduGator“, Gateway Community Newsletter. Back issues are available at the bottom of each edition.
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Rest, Recharge, Rejuvenate, Refresh! See you in the fall!
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The MTA Summer Conference is July 27 to 30 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Last year’s Summer Conference was the biggest in years and highly rated by new and returning participants alike. Our Training & Professional Learning Division staff has prepared information to help your local association or chapter create a budget for sending members to participate in the programs that help our members build power together. Click here to register or for more information.
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- The 2025 MTA Annual Meeting is this coming weekend, May 2 & 3
4/28/2025
The 2025 Annual Meeting will commence at 11:00 this Friday, May 2nd, in Springfield. The Annual Meeting is the time, each year, when rank-and-file delegates (sent by each local) participate in the largest democratic body in the state. At the meeting, members debate and vote on “new business”, “bylaw” changes, “resolutions”, and the annual budget, setting the priorities and the direction for the MTA organization for the following year. The MTA budget is around $45 million, and this is where much of the power that our MTA dues buy finds its outlet. Anywhere from 500-2000 members (depending on the year) debate (following Robert’s Rules of Order) and vote electronically on the above items. New business items, resolutions, and bylaws changes are all submitted to the MTA prior to the meeting by members or groups of members. Should these pass, the MTA is required to act on them in the coming year. This past year, Gateway and Northampton’s leadership submitted a new business item requiring the MTA (as a state-wide effort) to direct organizers and their PR “machine” to lobbying for more funds for Rural Aid, transportation funding, and Charter Reimbursement. This item passed overwhelmingly and has helped us immensely with our efforts this year to push for improvements, though it’s an uphill battle in the current political environment.
This year, the meeting will be attended by GEA president, Jim Duggan; VP Bill Brown, middle school social studies teacher, Ben Just, and middle school paraprofessional, Karen Leis. The number of delegates a local is allowed to send is dependent on the number of members in that local. We are allotted four delegates and have sent a full contingent every year for the past seven years. Some years the meeting is in Boston, and, more recently, this has rotated to include Springfield as a location, dividing the event between Eastern and Western MA.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the Annual Meeting, or if you might be interested in attending in the future, please talk to GEA VP Bill Brown. It’s a great way to get involved in the union in a meaningful way, without
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4/7/2025
Educators for a Democratic Union is a caucus within the MTA which, for the last 10 years, has focused on making the MTA more democratic (small “d”), Transparent (big “T”) and focused on the larger, societal issues which contribute to unequal access to, and benefit from public education. If these sound like values that align with your own, check out their “platform” page. The last five MTA presidents have been elected with EDU power and endorsement. The push for an MTA focus on Rural Aid and a fairer distribution of education funding has been, in large part, driven by EDU members and EDU support.
Membership, for those interested, is $5 and allows you a vote in the bi-annual primaries for presidential and vice presidential endorsement, and access to planning and support meetings.
Check it out here , or check in with me for more info.
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MTA – Legislative Agenda for Chapter 70 / Rural Aid
Funding Our Schools to Meet the Needs of All Students
Public school districts across the Commonwealth are facing severe fiscal challenges that threaten to undermine their capacity to deliver high-quality public education to all students. The legislation below offers a comprehensive platform to address the main drivers of the public school fiscal crisis and provide the funding our students and educators need to succeed now and in the years to come. The crisis could be addressed most rapidly by these reforms being incorporated into the FY26 state budget.
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Don’t Forget!
Any staff member who knows (or thinks) they will have completed enough coursework to warrant a “lane-change”/salary increase by the start of the next school year MUST send a message, in writing, to the Central Office letting them know this BEFORE December 1st. Failure to do this will result in your salary increase being postponed until mid-year. Any questions? Contact someone in your union leadership.
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Question 2 – YES, YES, YES
Help support the final push to end the MCAS Graduation Requirement! Here’s How
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TO NEW STAFF!
