Massachusetts Retirees Say ‘ICE Out!’
By Rick Last and Mary MacDonald
The “Wisdom Warriors” of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) Retired Members Committee took to the streets to protest ICE immigration raids plaguing their communities. Like many NEA-Retired members nationwide, they proudly stood and marched with hundreds of community members at “ICE Out” rallies that spread across their state in the fall and winter.
Former social studies educator Jim Murphy attended protests against aggressive ICE immigration enforcement in his hometown of Newton and other nearby communities.
The immigration tactics are frightening students and families, Murphy explains. “Kids are scared they might not come home to parents, and that has an impact on them,” Murphy says. “Their anxiety, their absences have an impact on their classmates. That becomes an educational issue very specifically.”
Rallies make a difference, he adds. “It may not be obvious at first, but this is exactly how change happens.”
The Wisdom Warriors assemble as needed to support active members in contract fights, protests, and to show support for important community issues. “We’ve retired from the classroom, but we haven’t retired from caring about public education or caring about our students,” says former teacher Andrei Joseph. “We haven’t retired from the mission of the MTA. We haven’t retired from the idea of building a better world. That includes a better world for our children and grandchildren.”
A version of this story originally ran in the MTA Reporter.
A Retiree Finds Purpose in Pounds of Peppers
By Ali Schalop
What is Maine retiree Steve Knight’s favorite food to “glean”? Peppers! “You can freeze them and use them in soups and on pizza!” he says.
Gleaning, Knight explains, is redirecting quality produce, compost, and medical supplies that are headed for landfills, so these resources go to people in need instead. That’s especially important in his state, where 1 in 7 people and 1 in 5 children live in food-insecure households, according to Feeding America.
“In 2025, we gleaned a little over 16,000 pounds of food!” he says.
It all started when Knight realized he could gather used medical equipment, such as crutches and wheelchairs, from his local dump and deliver them to hospice organizations and churches. The supplies are then sanitized and given to people in need.
“It just expanded from there,” recalls Knight. His efforts soon grew to include food rescue.
With seed money from his church, Knight bought a van, gathered a few volunteers, and built a network of farmers, soup kitchens, local colleges, and community centers to create the Central Maine Gleaners Group.
Their tagline? “Good Food–Community–Reciprocity.”
Giving back to the community brings the former high school science teacher a sense of fulfillment. “It’s just enough to keep me busy, and I still have time for my morning coffee,” he says.
Retired Educators Invest in the Next Generation of Educators
By Colin Davan
For many NEA Aspiring Educators (AE), association dues may be outside of their budget. To help support future educators, 14 NEA-Retired affiliates have sponsored memberships for AE members in their states.
Among them is the Michigan Education Association-Retired (MEA-Retired), which began covering dues for their state’s AE members in 2024.
“These students are the future of public education, and it’s important to support them in any way we can to preserve teachers in the classrooms and strong public education,” says MEA-Retired President Barbara Schram.
MEA-Retired currently sponsors dues for more than 400 students, which led to a 39 percent increase in the state’s Aspiring Ed membership!
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