Celebrating Graduates and Fighting for Community Colleges

May 23, 2025

Greetings,

Based on a quick scan of Facebook, many MTA members attended college graduations for your children, nieces, nephews, even grandkids. (I did too!) Soon you’ll be sending high school seniors along their way to the next chapters in their lives.

This poem by the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, “Ithaka,” stuck with me through all the commencement proceedings this past weekend.

Here is one stanza:

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you’re old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Congratulations should be extended this week to the Massachusetts Community College Council for launching a smart public campaign that is attracting plenty of attention. Community college faculty have put messages on billboards throughout the state that explain why community colleges need competitive salaries and more faculty to educate all the students flowing into colleges through MassEducate, the state’s free community college program.

MTA Events, Opportunities and Solidarity Actions

People’s Forum on Graduation Readiness

When: Saturday, May 24, 12 - 1:30 p.m.
Where: Keith Middle School community room, 225 Hathaway Blvd., New Bedford

Come participate in a working session to answer questions including: What should students know and be able to do by graduation; how should students demonstrate their readiness to graduate; and how can schools support these goals? The session will be in a child-friendly, multilingual space. Light refreshments will be provided. Register here.

Greater Boston Graduation Council Listening Session

When: Wednesday, May 28, 5 - 7 p.m.
Where: 81 Highland Ave., Somerville

Six regional and virtual listening sessions are being organized by Governor Healey’s Graduation Council to gather feedback from communities, including students, families, educators, administrators and higher education experts, on what skills and knowledge Massachusetts students need to thrive in college, careers and civic life. Comments can include feedback on potential course requirements, examinations and alternative methods of demonstrating student achievement. The next session is in greater Boston. For more information and to register: massteacher.org/testing.

Training on Implementing the New IEP Form

When: Friday, May 30, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and Wednesday, June 4, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Fitchburg and Holyoke

In collaboration with the Federation for Children with Special Needs, DESE offers in-person, free-of-charge training on implementing the new Individualized Education Program form. The training will provide opportunities to practice the critical sections of the IEP as identified by the field, such as those about English learners, goal writing, accommodation and modification, present levels of performance and family engagement. School leaders, special education leaders, teachers, paraprofessionals and IEP team leaders are invited to attend this training. Educators will receive four professional development points. There are two remaining trainings from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, May 30, in Fitchburg and also on Wednesday, June 4, in Holyoke. Register online.

An Urgent Call to Action! MTA Retired Speakers Series

When: Wednesday, June 4, 3 p.m.
Where: Virtual

Join the MTA Retired Members Committee and special guests MTA President Max Page, Vice President Deb McCarthy and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, as we discuss the current state of affairs at the state and national levels and plan to make our united MTA voices heard. Register here.

Actions Taken at the May Executive Committee Meeting

Actions taken by the MTA Executive Committee at the meeting on May 16, 2025, can be found here. Scroll down on the webpage for the Executive Committee information.

Springfield and Boston Pride Events

When: June 7 and June 14
Where: Stearns Square, Springfield, and Copley Square, Boston

Springfield on June 7

Boston on June 14

The Ethnically Marginalized Affairs Committee invites you to its 4th Annual Juneteenth Celebration. This year's theme is “Literacy is Liberation” and will feature storytelling by Len Cabral, drumming by Sidy Maïga and sounds of the African diaspora by DJ Lady Ly. There will be breakfast from Neighborhood Kitchen, desserts by Gerly’s Ice Cream, as well as a book swap, family activities and more. Registration information is located here.

Trouble with MCAS Administration?

Educators have raised concerns about technical issues with the new MCAS test platform. The MTA is collecting feedback from educators regarding their experiences and observations with the Spring 2025 MCAS administration. Please let us know if any issues have been reported here.

MTA Summer Conference 2025

Where: UMass Amherst
When: July 27-30

Summer Conference is FREE for all members, and housing and meals are available at low rates. Once again, we are pleased to invite Education Support Professionals and Adjunct Faculty to attend with free meals and housing. Participants in the New Member Program, Next Generation Leadership and New Presidents Academy also receive free meals and housing. Register today.

NEW MTA Benefits Program – Professional Development Graduate Courses

MTA Benefits has partnered with Virtual Education Software and Lake Superior State University to offer MTA members up to nine semester hours of graduate (transcript) credit for $275! Members may purchase this annual subscription and access more than 35 online graduate education courses with no additional costs. Please check with your school district and/or state licensing agency to verify that these course offerings will meet your district and/or state requirements for salary advancement and/or state certificate re-licensure. Visit the MTA Benefits website to learn more.

Looking for Vision Statements of a Successful Graduate

Does your district have a portrait, or vision, of a graduate that outlines the characteristics and skills of a successful high school graduate? If so, the MTA’s Center for Education Policy & Practice wants to hear from you! Please fill out this brief form to share your insight.

Political Education

Today, we’re introducing a new section of MTA Union News: “A Look Back at MTA’s history.” We will occasionally include brief reflections from our 180-year history. Given the political climate, it seems timely to consider previous attempts to control schools and demand oaths of loyalty by our members.

Attempts to control what is taught in schools and colleges are raging right now, but they aren’t unprecedented. In 1935, at the height of the Red Scare, the legislature enacted a law requiring all educators and public and private schools and colleges to sign a “loyalty oath.” The MTA opposed the bill. Although few disagreed with the oath’s specific mandate to uphold the Constitution, many were concerned about the distrust it fostered. For example, one Hearst paper falsely claimed that 200,000 Soviet textbooks had been imported into the U.S. for student indoctrination. “Alternative facts” have been around for a long time. When the Massachusetts Society of Professors formed at UMass Amherst in 1972, one of its first platforms was to oppose the oath. The state Supreme Judicial Court finally found the requirement unconstitutional in 1967.

For more MTA history, visit massteacher.org/history.

In solidarity,

Max and Deb

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