MEA Members Show Up in Augusta to Advocate for Public Eduation

MEA members are showing up in the halls of the State House for MEA’s weekly Lobby Days and testifying in front of the legislature to advocate for their students, schools, and profession. We will be working until the last bell to make sure we get our key priorities across the finish line. Here is what you need to know.

→Supplemental Budget
The Governor’s supplemental budget proposal for fiscal year 2026-2027 has a number of great proposals for public education; we are working to make sure the legislature supports funding the following priorities.

Raising the Minimum Teacher Salary to $50,000:
The Governor’s budget increases the minimum teacher salary from the current $40,000 to $45,000 beginning July 1, 2027, $47,500 beginning July 1, 2028, and then $50,000 beginning July 1, 2029. We know some teachers already earn well above this amount but given the shortages we are seeing we must increase the salaries offered to entry-level teachers. We also believe through collective bargaining we can increase salaries for teachers up and down the scale by increasing the minimum salary. The MEA has advocated for years for this improvement, and we are elated to see it in the Governor’s budget proposal.

Maintaining 55 Percent Education Funding:
The Governor’s budget proposes another $46 million to continue meeting the state’s obligation to pay 55% of local education costs and help hold down property tax increases. After more than a decade of advocacy, the state finally met the 55% state funding threshold in 2022, if passed, this budget reflects 5 years of the state meeting this commitment.

School Bus Safety:
After two tragic bus accidents in Maine, the Governor prioritized school bus safety and includes $5.9 million to retrofit all school buses in the state with anti-pinch door sensors and/or crossing arms. This funding will help improve safety for 2,300 Maine school buses.

Implementing a Cell Phone Ban in Schools:
The Governor proposes spending $700,000 to help provide funding for public schools to adopt and implement policies banning cell phones during the school day.

Making Free Community College Permanent:
The future of the Free Community College program has been in limbo since last year’s budget stopped short of making it permanent. The Governor calls for fully establishing the program and dedicating an additional $2.5 million to support it going forward. According to the Governor’s Office, 23,000 students have participated and 2,000 of those students have continued their study in the University of Maine System or other four-year institutions since its launch in 2022.

If lawmakers do not include funding for the program in this year’s budget, Maine would become the first state in the nation to create a Free Community College initiative only to later dismantle it.

→Health Care for Retired Teachers and Education Technicians
Former Governor Paul LePage made sweeping cuts to MainePERS pensions for educators and despite years of advocacy, those reductions cannot be reversed due to Maine’s constitutional restrictions.

What the state can do, however, is lessen the financial burden on retirees by increasing its share of health care costs for educators and others in the MainePERS system. Raising the state contribution for the MEA BT Medicare Advantage plan from 60% to 65%, a cost that is a little more than 3 million, would make a meaningful difference for retirees.

MEA is working with MEA Retired leader, Representative Jan Dodge to pass LD 111, An Act to Increase the State Share of Retired Teachers Health Care. This bill will help ensure current and future retirees can count on the support they’ve earned.

“Our public schools are in dire need of resources in order to meet the complex needs of the students that are put in front of us each and every day. I have seen firsthand in my role as a head teacher in my elementary school, that our students are coming in with more complex mental health needs each day… We do not have enough school counselors, social workers, or nurses to handle the influx of social and emotional issues that our students are bringing through the school doors each day.”

• Beth French, MEA Vice President

“Their [my students] success depends on consistent staffing, strong support services, readily available high-quality resources, and manageable class sizes. Tight budgets are not theoretical to us. They show up when intervention positions are reduced, when support staff is stretched thin, and when educators are asked to do more without additional resources or support.”

– Jaye Rich, MEA Treasurer

MAINE GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY SCREENING & ENDORSEMENT PROCESS

What is a Primary Endorsement?
This year, the MEA Board has authorized the use of a primary endorsement process for both the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries. This means any candidate running in either party’s primary for Governor may seek MEA’s endorsement during the primary phase. This process applies only to the gubernatorial race.

What About the General Election?
Candidates who win their party’s nomination will not automatically receive MEA’s endorsement in the general election, even if they were endorsed in the primary. Instead, the nominated Republican and Democratic candidates will be invited to participate in MEA’s separate general election endorsement process.

Who Decides?
The Screening and Endorsement team is made up entirely of MEA members consisting of MEA Officers, MEA Board of Directors, MEA Government Relations Committee, Local Association Presidents or their designees, and MEA Representative Assembly (RA) delegates.

The Process
MEA prides itself on having a clear, fair, and democratic process leading up to the endorsement of a candidate.

Step 1
Following the June Primary, questionnaires on public education issues are sent out to candidates. All questionnaires must be filled out by the candidate and returned to MEA by the deadline to be considered for the Screening and Endorsement process.

Step 2
The Screening and Endorsement team meets in July to evaluate the questionnaires. MEA members on the Screening and Endorsement team lead discussions to determine which candidates align with MEA policy priorities and propose candidates for MEA’s collective endorsement.

Step 3
The Screening and Endorsement team sends endorsement recommendations for candidates to the MEA Board of Directors who make the final decision on endorsements by the Union.

Step 4
After the June primary, the winning Republican and Democratic nominees—along with any independent candidates—will be invited to participate in MEA’s separate Screening & Endorsement process for the November General Election.