MEA-Retired At A Glance

Guess we are STILL relevant and important!

• In a report presented at the October 4, 2019 meeting of the MEA Board of Directors, the number one concern of new members is having a pension.

• We’re the “daytime face of MEA,” with members able to accomplish some tasks during the day when our active members are working.

• Membership includes nearly 38,000 fully-paid members throughout the state. Over three dozen local chapters have been established, with several new ones in the past four years.

Interesting Facts:

• We have a group of members trained to be lobbyists; they go to Lansing and talk with legislators. Large groups of MEA-Retired members will visit the Capitol on relatively short notice to do the same.

• We are one of the largest NEA-Retired affiliates in the country; we were eligible to send 38 delegates to the NEA-Retired Annual Meeting and the NEA Representative Assembly in Orlando the summer of 2023.

• Members of our state affiliate have had and continue to have important roles at the national level, including as an NEA-Retired officer, NEA Board member, NEA Resolutions Committee member. Other serve on NEA-Retired committees.

Who runs the show?

• Delegates to the MEA-Retired Annual Meeting elect three officers—President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer for a three-year term. Approximately 200 delegates from throughout the state represent their chapters and regions at the event.

• Board of Directors comprised of one director from each of 17 regions, the Immediate Past President and liaisons from the following categories:

  • Educational Support Professionals, or ESP

  • Michigan Association of Higher Education, or MAHE

  • Minority (representing ethnic minorities)

  • NEA-Retired member of the NEA Board of Directors (if one happens to be from Michigan)

• The MEA-Retired Executive Board is made up of the three officers and three board members who are elected for two-year terms on the EB. All three groups meet four times a year (September, October, January and March) three times a year at MEA HQ in East Lansing (virtually in January) to conduct the business of the association.

• The organization has several committees that help accomplish the goals of MEA-Retired.

What constitutes the business of the association conducted at Board of Directors meetings?

• Reports from officers, committee chairs and other individuals

• Presentations from MEA officers and staff

• Discussion of legislative issues that affect both current and retired public school employees

• Discussion and voting on various business items, which may include items as varied as changing financial institutions, commitment to an issue, budget items, changing language in governance documents among other items

• Nomination of individuals for various offices

What can YOU do to be an active member of MEA-Retired?

• Be or become a lifetime MEA/NEA member

• Join your local chapter and participate in the activities offered

• Read the publications provided via both snail mail and online

• Lend your talents and voice to help protect what you earned

• VOTE in the MEA-Retired annual election in February and support candidates for statewide office.

MEA-Retired: The Commitment Continues!