Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance Information

The Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA) began to take form in 2015 at a dark time for public education. Corporate privatizers were coming for our communities' public schools. Generations of students - especially low-income students, immigrants and students of color - were suffering in underfunded schools, with no end in sight. Public college students trying to stay afloat were burdened with crushing debt, while public college workers took on more and more responsibility for less and less pay. MEJA brought together hundreds of organizations, unions, and community groups to fight to Save Our Public Schools and vote No on 2 in 2016. We defeated the push to allow unlimited charter school growth to destroy public education as we know it. We won big, by 62% to 38%. After the 2016 election, MEJA became a nonprofit with a membership coalition of students, parents, educators, community activists, and union members committed to fighting against the Trump/DeVos Administration and defending public schools and colleges from corporate vultures. MEJA hired Charlotte Kelly as Executive Director in 2018 and built coalition tables in seven regions of the state to advocate for equitable resources and democratic control of our schools. MEJA hired local parents and community organizers to lead these battles. MEJA pulled together our coalition once again to demand that we Fund Our Future by ensuring the promise of our K-12 public schools and demanding that our lawmakers cherish our public higher education system.