This Active Life -- March 2003

News Briefs

Maryland Members OK New Governance Structure for Retirees

Diligence has paid off for NEA-Retired members in Maryland.

Culminating years of groundwork laid by Retired members in concert with their Active colleagues, the Maryland State Teachers Association recently passed a new bylaw that creates an official governance structure for Retired members. The MSTA-Retired will have a governance structure modeled after the NEA-Retired structure, including an Advisory Council and the offices of president, vice-president, and secretary/treasurer.

NEA-Retired member Roz Yee of Maryland says she studied other affiliate governance structures and "gleaned what we felt were the best points of each." A bylaw was then drafted and presented to MSTA members at its most recent Representative Assembly, where it passed easily.

Phyllis Parks Robinson, who chaired the state's retired issues advisory committee, says that the new bylaw means that "Retired members will really feel that they have a home within MSTA."

A former president of the Montgomery County Education Association, Robinson noted that MCEA already officially recognized local retirees in its governance structure. And local retirees have responded, for example, by working tirelessly to support pro-education candidates for office. "Retirees feel much more valued as members when they have a structure where they can have some influence," says Robinson.

The Advisory Council for the new MSTA-Retired was set to begin work early this year.