Racial and Social Justice Issues
One of MSEA’s main strategic objectives is to advance racial and social justice. We do so by supporting members and locals in advancing equity and racial and social justice in education, and improving conditions for students, educators, families, and communities through awareness, recruitment, capacity building, partnership, and individual and collective action.
Legislative Priorities
All schools should be safe and supportive places for all students and educators and provide all students opportunities for success. MSEA will work with legislators and coalition partners to advance: the prioritization of community school expansion and the funding equity goals in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future; the transformation of school security policies to prohibit law enforcement personnel from acting in the school discipline process; expanding social-emotional and mental health support through adequately staffing counselors, social workers, nurses, and other professionals; the closing of the digital divide by making broadband internet access a public utility available to every community; the promotion of Black and Brown voices and racial justice in our schools including the recruitment and retention of educators of color, robust implicit bias, diversity, equity, and cultural competency training, and the use of trauma-informed education practices in our schools; and social justice and equity for Black and Brown lives beyond the classroom, including in our judicial, housing, health, and economic systems.
Our schools must be a place where children from different backgrounds and races learn to understand the present and prepare for the future. But there has been a troubling effort by some politicians, built on false narratives, to push bans and whitewash our history, denying children an honest education that equips them to shape a better future. We must provide every child with an accurate and honest education, without excluding certain students or writing people who represent and look like our diverse student body out of our history books. We must not shortchange our students’ education and ensure that they can develop critical thinking skills.
NEA and MSEA Positions and Beliefs
NEA and MSEA Resolutions are position and belief statements developed and voted upon by members at annual representative assemblies. Click here to read MSEA’s resolutions and click here to read NEA’s resolutions.
Learn more about NEA’s racial and social justice campaigns and take action by visiting NEA’s Ed Justice page.