MEA members gathered this week to boost their energy and resolve for doing what’s necessary to win in the final five weeks before the Nov. 5 election – with some special guests and prize drawings as extra enticements adding to the fun.

Participants at the virtual “Game On For Our Students” rally bid on silent auction items—including Harris-Walz swag from the Democratic National Convention—to benefit MEA-PAC and help elect friends of public education up and down the ballot.

“It is Game On—game on to protect our students and our momentum as a state by winning the next five weeks for our friends of public education,” said MEA President and CEO Chandra Madafferi.

You can help—visit MEAVotes.org to volunteer and give to MEA-PAC!

Tuesday’s event featured giveaways of signed copies of True Gretch, the bestselling memoir by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and visits by special guests NEA President Becky Pringle, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Michigan Supreme Court candidates Justice Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Ann Thomas.

From local school board races to making Elissa Slotkin the next U.S. Senator from Michigan, and from the battle to keep a pro-public education majority in the state House to the great push to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as president and vice president—it takes hard work to win, Madafferi said.

“And that’s what we’ve shown we can do: making calls, knocking on doors, sending texts, talking to our fellow MEA members, our friends and our neighbors. They say elections have consequences, and the last three elections have proven that adage to be true.”

Gilchrist laid out the consequences of electing a pro-public education governor, House and Senate in Michigan: record per-pupil funding year after year, plus additional investments in school safety and student mental health; stipends for student teachers and supports to build and diversify teaching ranks; greatly expanded preschool opportunities; more opportunities for anyone to access post-secondary training and education; and repeal of the pension tax.

“Michigan has a history of excellent educators, and we can write that history for today’s generation with your help and the support that the governor and I and the Democratic majority in the Legislature have been able to deliver in record-breaking fashion,” Gilchrist said. “We know there’s more work to do.”

Both of MEA’s recommended candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court, Bolden and Thomas,  introduced themselves and asked MEA members for help. Bolden reminded participants she was a two-term state representative before being appointed by Whitmer to fill a vacancy on the court last year.

And she noted her previous bid for the seat fell short by a whisker in 2022—as one million voters that year failed to fill out the back of the ballot where the non-partisan race was listed.

“We’re so grateful to have your support and really just need your help to let people know to vote in the non-partisan section of the ballot for Kyra and Kim for the win,” Bolden said.

Pringle spoke to rally goers from the road in Minnesota – where Walz is a former public school teacher and now governor – the latest state where the NEA president was leading the charge and rallying the troops to “win all the things.”

Pringle noted the stark contrast in this election—and that Walz and Harris stand on the side of sensible gun laws to protect our students, student loan forgiveness for public school employees, and funding for universal free school meals, among many other pro-public education stances.

“We already know that they will center the challenges we have, from the educator shortages to the lack of teacher and ESP pay that reflects the important work they do, to making sure that we focus on the rights of students to learn and our teachers to teach the true and complete history of this country.

“We have to, as a country, live into the brilliance and the poetry of the promise of America. When we say ‘We the people,’ we mean all of us.”

Pringle thanked MEA members in advance for all they will do—as they did in 2018, 2020 and 2022—as a swing state deciding the presidential winner and U.S. Senate majority in national elections but also delivering pro-education, pro-union, pro-student wins at the local and state levels as well.

“At NEA we know we can depend on you to do everything you possibly can for the next however-many days. I know you will get it done, MEA, because that’s who you are, and that’s what you do! So I’m going to say thank you in advance for all you will do for us to win all the things.”

Volunteer opportunities are available all over the state. Go to MEAVotes.org where you can sign up to volunteer, access voting recommendations for your area, and donate to MEA-PAC!