BRIAN FITZGERALD
Wareham Education Association
Every member in every local. At every level. In every region. That’s who a Massachusetts director on the NEA Board should represent, and that’s what I’ll do. I’ve worked with dozens of locals in three different counties as an MTA Board member, Senate District Coordinator and Plymouth County Education Association president. As Wareham’s local president, I’ve faced the issues that confront so many of us. I’ve worked alongside too many members to believe all are served with a simple agenda or set of buzzwords. Some moments call for a clenched fist; others an open hand.
Different members have different needs: that’s why I co-wrote a 2023 NEA business item equipping educators against attacks from religious pretexts and authored new language in our NEA Resolutions to explicitly recognize members’ rights to strike. As county president, I’ve arranged member trainings on retirement, educator licensure and work in local unions. A new PCEA scholarship supports future educators and conducts a modernized celebration of standout colleagues that honors who we are.
A modern union embraces accountability and transparency. I keep a public record of my MTA Board votes (found at http://tinyurl.com/MTAregion41C). I’ll do the same as an NEA Director. I don’t believe in surprises or secrets: Every member I serve will know exactly what I’m doing. After a recent controversial MTA vote, I was thrilled to hear from members who agreed, and disagreed, with the outcome. I responded to every member who contacted me - something I invite you to do at [email protected].
Our union is the sum of contributions of thousands of professionals. The power and success of our union only grows when every member and every member’s ideas, voice and work are welcomed. I ask for your vote for an NEA Director who will do just that.
KYLE GEKOPI
Wellesley Educators Association
Our democratic union is where transformative change is born. Collectively, we MTA members and our allies have passed the Fair Share Amendment, won equitable funding for K-12 public education, defeated the expansion of charter schools, and engaged in civil disobedience by reclaiming our right to strike. We are dreamers. We are doers. We are national leaders.
Our work is unfinished. I have been a proud union sibling and educator for 15 years. I have served as a union steward, secretary, benefits director and now the President of the Wellesley Educators Association. Time and again, I am reminded that power was not derived from the contract or the law, but from democracy, organizing and member action. Last year, the WEA successfully concluded a contract campaign that increased ESP salaries by 27%, expanded prep time, won just-cause for our ESP staff and expanded parental leave to 12 weeks for all parents, regardless of gender. Member education, solidarity and action were the only tools that worked.
We also must live our values. Last year, MTRS spent over $200 million of our retirement money on service fees to Wall Street. This is a national problem, stemming from a lack of member engagement and predatory financial practices. I have attended five Representative Assemblies sponsored by corporations who are hostile to unionism, to small-town America and to consumer health. We must re-invest our hard-earned money into social systems that work to genuinely expand racial, social, financial and educational equity.
If elected to the NEA Board, I will work tirelessly to build solidarity alliances across affiliates, and educate members on how to exercise their collective power to further breathe life into our education workers’ movement. I thank you for reading and ask you to send me to the NEA to get to work for us!
