Our Proud History

1852: The Michigan State Teachers Association (MSTA) was formed by 20 charter members in a meeting at the State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti.

1857: National Education Association was organized in Philadelphia.

1911: MSTA’s constitution was amended to make membership fee of $1 for both men and women. MSTA membership—8,288, with 7,148 women. 1926: MSTA changed its name to Michigan Education Association.

1960: MESSA, the Michigan Education Special Services Association, was chartered to provide affordable health insurance to school employees.

1964: MEA completed a petition campaign, gathering 325,000 signatures, to get a mandatory statewide tenure bill before the Legislature, which approved the measure.

1965: Passage of the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) gave public education employees the right to organize into local bargaining units to negotiate salary, benefits and other working conditions.

1973: MEA established MEA Financial Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary offering an array of financial products and services for school employees.

1984: MEA and Michigan Educational Support Professional merged, making MEA one of the first state associations to offer full membership rights to school support personnel.

1994: Anti-union forces in the state Legislature rewrote the Public Employment Relations Act of 1965 to restrict MEA members’ bargaining rights.

2000: MEA members led the fight to defeat the statewide voucher initiative.

2007: MEA membership exceeded 160,000.

Updated: February 19, 2009 6:46 PM