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The MEA is only as strong as its members’ voices. Through the Association, you are able to have a voice in decisions made regarding your career, your students and the profession as a whole. MEA advocates for policies that advance the mission of great public schools for every Maine student. Including your voice in the process that strengthens our schools and in turn improves the education for all our students.
Action Center
Make a Difference Today - TAKE ACTION NOW
Fund Maine’s Future
TAKE ACTION It is Time to Fund Maine's Future and Invest in Our Universities Now more than ever, we need the state to increase funding for the UMaine System. Put simply, our state's financial support for the UMaine System has decline precipitously over decades...
Join the Team!
Legislative Organizing Committee: The MEA is committed to making sure the voices of our members are heard when legislation that impacts our schools is debated in the State House. To that end, we are forming a Legislative Organizing...
Your Voice is Needed!
SIGN UP! MEA's Legislative Organizing Committee is a group of member advocates and leaders from across the state working together to engage in moving MEA's legislative priorities forward. This group meets with MEA's Government Relations Director, Jan Kosinski,...
Thank You to our Members of Congress!
SEND YOUR EMAIL WEP/GPO REPEALED! Send a thank you to our members of Congress. President Biden signed into law the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, which repeals the unfair GPO and WEP provisions. This is a huge win for educators and public service...
Under the Dome Newsletter
SIGN UP Stay current with Local and State Elections and bills we support in Augusta. Sign up for our Under the Dome emails! SIGN UP
Under the Dome Updates
Under the Dome: Budget Time-We Need You!
Dear MEA members – The Governor and legislative leaders are moving forward very swiftly on the Governor’s 2-year budget proposal. Very swiftly. We just learned that the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee will hold a public hearing on the education portions of the...
Under the Dome: MEA’s Member-Driven Legislative Program
Dear MEA Members, The State House remains mostly quiet, but I do not expect the quiet to last for long. The Committees have conducted orientations and approved rules for this session. Starting in February, I expect we will see a regular flow of public hearings...
Under the Dome: Join the Team!
Dear MEA Members, The legislative session is off to a slow start – but that is to be expected. There are several new legislators in the House and Senate and this week many of the Committees conducted an orientation to familiarize new members with the legislative...
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Legislative Lobbying
Our legislative program lobbies the Maine Legislature and Congress for school funding, education laws that make sense and more. Lawmakers need to hear from the experts in our schools and when you can’t be there MEA leadership and staff ensure lawmakers understand the impact of proposed policies on your work and on your students.
Read More on Legislative Lobbying
Because of MEA’s presence, in the last few years, some of the success include:
- Hundreds of Millions more in education funding
- Elimination of the testing mandate tied to teacher evaluations
- Changes to the Rules of Restraint and Seclusion to make them manageable/realistic for educators
Why is the MEA involved in politics? Why should educators worry about who gets elected? Here are three good answers:
- Protection of public schools is a fundamental task of the Association. With repeated political attacks on our schools at the state and national level, educators must defend their programs and MEA has led the way in proclaiming the success of Maine schools and defeating attempts to displace public schools as the cornerstone of our democracy.
- Funding for K-12 schools, the University of Maine, and Technical College Systems is largely dependent upon the goodwill of state legislators. The health and prosperity of your program, salary, and benefits is directly tied to votes on school funding. MEA is a strong proponent for more funding and is often the only voice for student needs.
- What you teach and how you do your job is the result of political decisions. If MEA isn’t involved, decisions about school curricula, teaching methodologies, student assessment, and graduation requirements will be made without regard for educator interests.
Want to know what is happening in the Maine State Legislature?
MEA Fund in Support of Public Education
Support and strengthen the commitment from Mainers who are invested in creating excellent public schools for our children.