Staff members with the Maine Education Association (MEA) have been working with members, community stakeholders, and other partner groups across the state to help them engage in local campaigns.
“Members are putting up yard signs, participating in phone banks, attending meetings with the candidates, and talking with their fellow educators about which candidates will best support our schools, students, and the profession,” says MEA Executive Director Rob Walker.
So far, EM can claim about 2,000 volunteers who attend get-out-the-vote rallies, write letters to media editors, are active on Facebook, and who can be relied on to show up at the polls on November 6.
Wisconsin, Maine, and Minnesota are part of a movement following the educator-driven #RedForEd effort that has created a surge in political activism in Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and North Dakota, where members of North Dakota United (NDU) have endorsed Sen Heidi Heitkamp and Rep. Mac Schneider.
Archuleta says many of NDU’s 11,500 members are voting early and encouraging their colleagues to do the same.
Without pro-public education champions like Heidi Heitkamp and Mac Schneider, the ideas expressed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos “will actually become law,” Archuleta warns.
Professor Lydia Tackett, an NDU member from Fargo, says there has been an increase in activism across the state, particularly when canvassing in neighborhoods.
“Whitmer Wednesdays” are a weekly event across Michigan, says Paula Herbart, president of the Michigan Education Association, which has endorsed Gretchen Whitmer for governor.
“There is phone-banking, texting, letter-writing, social media engagement … all out of MEA’s central office and satellite offices across the state,” Herbart says.
MEA has also endorsed Sen. Debbie Stabenow in her re-election campaign.
By supporting pro-education candidates like Tony Evers for governor and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, WEAC members and volunteers are helping bring education issues to the forefront.
In Minnesota, Courrier beams with pride when talking about Representative Tim Walz who is running for governor.
“He’s out of Mankato Teachers’ Association (MTA), Local 7158,” says Courrier, MTA president. Same goes for Julie Blaha, a strong contender for state auditor.
The excitement of electing “one of our own” has translated into no-nonsense organizing in Minnesota, which includes naming Worksite Action Leaders in every local.
“This creates opportunities for us to coordinate visits from the candidates and introduce them to members and the community,” says Courrier, a member of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFL-CIO, and NEA board of directors.
Education Minnesota is also endorsing the candidacies of U.S. Sens. Amy Klobucher and Tina Smith.
Last January, the Montana Public Employees Association and the Montana Educators Association-Montana Federation of Teachers merged to form Montana’s largest union, with an estimated membership of more than 24,000.
“We have boots on the ground knocking doors, making phone calls, writing letters to the editor, organizing fundraisers and town halls, and spearheading grassroots campaign activity such as rallies and demonstrations, in every community across this huge state,” says Curtis, a member of the NEA board of directors.
Last spring, MFPE interviewed all 130-plus legislative candidates before endorsing Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Kathleen Williams, among others.
Also sparking a surge in activism among MFPE members are two ballot issues: The 6-Mill Levy and Tobacco Tax. NEA along with other MFPE partners are pushing both measures, especially the 6-Mill tax, which funds 10 percent of Montana’s university system.
The Association has combined its member organizing program with that of the AFL-CIO. While still separate organizations, MFPE member-to-member mailers, door-knocking efforts, and “call nights,” are orchestrated jointly. Members are kept abreast of the latest news via the MFPE Facebook page.
Tackett says she will visit fellow NDU members and neighbors three or four more times before the midterms.