Education Minnesota facts for kids
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| Founded | 1998 |
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| Headquarters | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
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Members
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86,000 |
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Key people
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Denise Specht, president |
Education Minnesota is a special group, like a club, for people who work in schools in Minnesota. It helps teachers, school support staff, and even college professors. This group is called a trade union, which means it's an organization where workers join together to improve their jobs, pay, and working conditions.
Education Minnesota is connected to two bigger national groups: the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). It also works with the AFL-CIO, which is a large group of many different unions.
The main office for Education Minnesota is in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2017, it had over 90,000 members! Imagine that many people working together. Each year, about 900 elected people, called delegates, meet at a big event called the Representative Convention. This meeting is where the most important decisions for the group are made.
When the convention isn't happening, a smaller group of 44 people, called the governing board, meets every month. They decide how much members pay in dues, create a budget, and make sure the group's plans are followed. Three full-time leaders — a president, a vice president, and a secretary-treasurer — help guide the union every day. In 2017, Education Minnesota had about 170 staff members helping everything run smoothly.
Contents
How Education Minnesota Started: A Big Merger
Education Minnesota was created in March 1997 when two separate groups decided to join forces. These groups were the Minnesota Education Association (MEA) and the Minnesota Federation of Teachers (MFT). It was like two big clubs becoming one super-club!
The idea was to make a stronger, more united group for educators in Minnesota. Both parent organizations, the AFT and NEA, agreed to this merger. The new Education Minnesota officially started on September 1, 1998.
At the time, the AFT and NEA were also thinking about joining together at a national level. The merger in Minnesota was seen as a test, or a first step, for that bigger national merger. However, the national merger didn't happen. Even though the national groups didn't merge, Education Minnesota, which was connected to both, kept going strong!
When the two Minnesota groups first merged, there were some challenges. For example, they had to figure out how much members should pay in dues because both original groups wanted their full share. This problem took two years to solve, but they eventually reached an agreement that worked for everyone.
Inspiring Other States to Merge
The success of Education Minnesota's merger was a big deal. It showed other states that it was possible for different teacher unions to join together. Before this, some teacher unions in places like San Francisco and Florida had merged in the 1960s and 1970s.
After Education Minnesota formed, other states started thinking about it too. For example, the teacher groups in Montana merged in September 2000. Discussions about merging also began in states like Missouri, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.
To help future mergers go smoothly, the national NEA and AFT groups created special rules and guidelines. This made it easier for state-level teacher unions to combine and work together.
Minnesota Educator Academy (MEA) Weekend
The Minnesota Educator Academy, often called "MEA," is a very important event for teachers in Minnesota. It used to be known as the Education Minnesota Professional Conference. This academy is the biggest chance for educators in Minnesota to learn new things and improve their teaching skills.
The MEA conference happens every year on the third Thursday in October. Because teachers are at the conference, students usually don't have school on those days. This creates a long weekend, often called "MEA weekend." It's a very popular time for families to travel in Minnesota, sometimes even busier than Thanksgiving! In 2020, it was the busiest travel week since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
See also
- List of education trade unions
