April 23, 2026

Uncategorized

Members, we need your help! We are looking for teacher volunteers to help get out the vote on behalf of our building bond referendum. Come join the fun and help us spread the word. We will provide the phones, the training, and the script.  We need your help on this important task.
Location: Education Minnesota office located at 41 Sherburne Ave, St Paul (1 block north of the Capital) 

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a44a9ad22a4fc1-phone

Educators will yet again find the tools and inspiration they need to grow professionally at MEA, the union-sponsored professional development event Oct. 19-20 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

East Oakland teacher and school leader Jeff Duncan-Andrade will headline this year’s conference. Duncan-Andrade, an associate professor of Raza Studies and Education at San Francisco State University, will speak about equity in education and how community responsive practices can transform engagement and outcomes for all students.

A change to this year’s conference is that Friday will now be open to members only. Education Minnesota wants to make sure our members can get the most up-to-date training. Friday’s workshops will focus on relicensure areas. Register online to save your spot. In the past, many workshops have been so popular, we have had to turn away attendees.

For more details, look for the conference preview in the October issue of the Minnesota Educator or on the website at www.educationminnesota.org/events.aspx#mea.

Maria Le, a teacher at Central Park Elementary, was nominated for her outstanding work as a 3rd Grade Educator by Education MinnesotaI was nominated for the NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence. The official award  is called the NEA Foundation California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence.  This places her amongst the best educators in the Country.  We are proud of Maria and her work!

The first week of July Emily Bergquist, Dan Beck and Gregg Martinson attended the National Education Association’s annual convention in Boston.  It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with our colleagues around the country and become informed about issues effecting Public Education throughout the United States.  The NEA convention is the largest deliberative body on the United States.  Throughout the convention, educational professionals discussed a variety of topics ranging from charter schools to restorative justice to educational equity.  We considered 153 different resolutions, amendments to the legislative agenda for NEA and the NEA budget throughout the conference.  Feel free to ask Emily, Dan or Gregg what they learned at the national conference.  We hope that this will better inform our work as a local union.  

Two of our star EM-R Roseville teachers,  Roberta Hernandez Rasmussen and Maria Le applied and were selected by Education Minnesota’s EMAC (Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee) to attend the NEA Ethinic Caucus Symposisum: A Conference on Human and Civil Rights. The theme was “Analyzing the Intersectionality of Race and Social Justice Issues in Education.” The conference was held in Las, Vegas from June 9th through the 11th. We were able to attend with 5 other Minnesotans from around the state. This was the first time in over 46 years that the NEA ethnic caucuses came together to collaborate, plan andI host an event of this nature.

Ask questions, tell your story and learn about possible solutions to the student loan debt crisis in Minnesota at our first-ever Student Loan Debt Symposium!

What: Student Loan Debt Symposium
When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9

RSVP today!

At this event, we plan to meet with state policymakers who have been advocates for student debt relief and identify state-based solutions to this crisis. This meeting is our chance for us, as a union, to create a plan to move forward where we believe we have the most potential to make change — right here in Minnesota. Your voice, your story and your ideas are critical.

Education Minnesota will provide lunch, mileage reuimbursement and hotel rooms for those traveling from greater Minnesota. More details to come!