Advocacy
Educator Voice
Decisions about schools and what’s best for students should be made by the educators who work with them every day. But too often, counterproductive and wasteful mandates are put in place with zero input from expert educators. MSEA fights for a bigger seat at the table and a larger voice in decisions that affect our students and our jobs.
Adding a Teacher to the State Board of Education
After two years of lobbying by educators across the state, in 2019 the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to add an active teacher and parent to the Maryland State Board of Education (SBOE). The overwhelming majority of SBOE members in recent years have had zero experience working or teaching in Maryland public schools, depriving the board of critical insight and expertise as they develop policy which impacts the working, teaching, and learning conditions for all of Maryland’s educators and students.
Following an election in late 2019 among teachers with an active certificate, Carroll County music teacher Rachel McCusker was elected as the first active teacher member of the SBOE. McCusker will serve for two and a half years, when another election will be held. Learn more about this position and Rachel’s advocacy.
Making Sure Educators Are at the Table
Whether it’s through legislation to make sure educators have a voice in reducing mandated standardized testing or a key role in developing interventions to help improve our schools, MSEA advocates for educators to have a strong role in creating policies to help our students and profession. It’s at the heart of everything we do, from collective bargaining and advocacy at the local level to legislation that we support in Annapolis. Educators deserve autonomy and a voice in shaping and improving the profession that we love.