Association of Educators
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Association of Educators |
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 MAE: A PROUD HISTORY The Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE) is the continuation of more than 128 years of productive accomplishments for educators and public education in Mississippi. The MAE was established through the 1976 merger of the predominantly-white Mississippi Education Association (MEA) and the predominantly black Mississippi Teachers Association (MTA). That merger resulted after the two organizations worked for more than ten (10) years to develop an acceptable plan. Over that period of time, several unsuccessful votes to merge occurred. The successful votes happened during the March 1975 conventions of the MEA and the MTA. A separate vote was held in 1976 to unify with the National Education Association. 
In 1878 the Mississippi Teachers Association, later to become the Mississippi Education
Association, was chartered by the State of Mississippi for the purpose of improving
working and learning opportunities and conditions in Mississippi’s public schools. At that
time, one-room school buildings, without any stable state funding or state-provided
textbooks, were the conditions under which teachers and students labored. For nearly 100
years, legislative lobbying for school structures, programs, and teachers’ salaries was
the hallmark of the MEA. Additionally, professional development through workshops,
conferences, conventions and publications headlined the MEA agenda.
In 1906, African American educators in the State created the Mississippi Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, later to be chartered as the Mississippi Teachers Association. The organizers of MTA recognized the importance of professional development and job-related protection of existing and future African American educators, as well as, the need for better school buildings, textbooks, and equipment. Although the MTA made sizeable contributions to the education lobbying efforts at the state level, much of its efforts were in legal and community-based organizing activities. Those efforts centered on voter registration and "Get Out the Vote," in support of politicians who advocated for public education opportunities for African American educators and students. The 1975 MEA-MTA merger vote sought to combine the powerful lobbying, legal assistance, and professional development leadership of the state’s two education associations in order to better serve the educators and students in Mississippi. Today, the MAE works daily to carry on and enhance the visions and accomplishments of the founders and organizers of the MEA and MTA. Your membership and participation in the MAE will help continue our success as the voice in Making Public Schools Great for Every Child. |
| Webmanager: Cathy Graves | Last updated June 8, 2010 |