Union Skills Winter Workshop Series
Sign up Today! MTA Union Skills Workshops Run from Jan. 30 to March 31
Learn More & Register See Full List of Workshops
It will be cold outside, so come and get fired up to strengthen our union at the 2021 MTA Union Skills Winter Workshop Series. This year’s events will be held virtually.
We'll kick things off on Saturday, January 30, with a plenary session featuring Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire, authors of the book, The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School. The plenary will be followed by workshops related to MTA’s 2021 campaigns — including the Campaign for Safe and Equitable Schools and Colleges, Fund our Future, Cancel MCAS, and Living Wages for ESPs and adjunct faculty.
Following the kick-off, a variety of workshops are scheduled throughout February and March. Topics include:
- Pandemic Policies: A Q & A for Local Leaders
- Contract Negotiations
- Membership and Financial Training for Local Officers (Treasurers Training)
- Grassroots Political Action
- Contract Enforcement/Grievances
- Building Representative Training
- Next Generation Leaders
- Conflict Resolution
- Labor Law and Union Rights
- Understanding Educator Licensure and Renewal
- Effective Communications
- Organizing to Win
- ... and more!
KICK-OFF EVENT ON SATURDAY, JAN. 30, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Plenary Discussion: A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door & Union Skills Workshops
Policies of structural racism, such as the long-term underfunding of our public schools and higher education institutions, have exacerbated the harmful impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, resulting in inequitable learning conditions for vulnerable populations, unsafe school and campus buildings, understaffing, inadequate student supports, and more.
Join us for a discussion with Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire, authors of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and The Future of School. The book traces the war on public education back to its origins and presents the background necessary to understand the threats we face. In our discussion we will pay special attention to how the book’s themes connect to the possibilities and opportunities of this moment. We will also outline our current campaigns: fighting for COVID-19 surveillance testing and ending MCAS and ACCESS testing; fully funding the Student Opportunity Act, financed with progressive revenues; winning the CHERISH Act, and stopping cuts to public higher education.
BOOK GROUP
This event will also mark the kickoff of a new statewide book group reading A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, which will include another visit with the authors.
About the Authors
Jennifer Berkshire is a licensed public school teacher in Massachusetts who writes about education and politics for The Nation, The New Republic, The Baffler, The New York Times and other publications. Creator and co-host of the education policy podcast Have You Heard, Berkshire teaches aspiring podcasters in the journalism program at Boston College and in the Labor Studies Program at UMass Amherst.
Jack Schneider is an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he leads the Beyond Test Scores project. An award-winning scholar, his work broadly explores the influence of history, culture and rhetoric in education policy. The author of four books, Dr. Schneider writes frequently about education in outlets such as The Atlantic, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Praise for A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door
“Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire offer a powerful analysis of the predatory, profit-seeking forces that threaten our nation’s public schools. … If you care about the future of our society, read this book.”
Education Historian, Author and Activist Diane Ravitch
Learn more about this book and the authors at www.wolfattheschoolhousedoor.com.