Schools closed two days this week so teachers’ union can push ideological agenda

The state’s teachers’ union Education Minnesota is holding its annual Minnesota Educator Academy (MEA) conference this Thursday, and par for the course, ideological agendas are front and center.

Billed as a professional development conference, MEA is open only to union members and aspiring educators. While it was traditionally a two-day event, the conference has been permanently shortened to one day (the third Thursday of October).

Districts are not required to observe MEA, but most do, and have already penciled in the Thursday of the conference and Friday as days off in future school year calendars.

So, what do teachers (who attend) learn during MEA? Here is a complete list of the sessions, which do include some non-controversial topics. Below are a handful of the more politically charged sessions.

“Intersectionality and the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community”

Participants will hear from Outfront Minnesota on “what intersectionality means and explore how overlapping identities, such as race, gender, socioeconomic status and disability affect the experiences and needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and community.”

“An Introduction to Supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ Communities”

Outfront Minnesota is also leading this session, which “will cover…implementing affirming and inclusive practices in school and pronoun usage.”

“It’s Not your Mother’s ERA Anymore!”

This session will focus on the Equal Rights Amendment, which was controversial enough that even the DFL supermajority couldn’t agree on it last session, points out data researcher Mark Gilson. The speakers include Monica Meyer with Gender Justice and Betty Folliard, founder of ERA Minnesota.

“Systems Thinking and Organizational Change towards Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access”

This DEI session will “explor[e] how change toward achieving equity is supported through both individual agency and collective efforts. Participants will leave with concrete ideas to support organizational change.”

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I couldn’t find how many teachers are expected to attend MEA this year, but past attendance has been around 2,000 or so out of the union’s roughly 70,000 active members (teachers and education support professionals) and 4,500 aspiring educator members who are eligible to attend.