Please note that general submissions have closed for the conference. Any submissions after Feb. 23 will only be considered if coming from MTA Staff or at the invitation to late submission by staff in MTA Training & Professional Learning.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association requests proposals for the 2025 MTA Summer Conference, which is scheduled for July 27-30 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Our conference attracts MTA members from public schools, colleges and universities, including teachers, faculty, professional staff, Education Support Professionals and retirees.

This year’s conference theme is Now More Than Ever.

The MTA’s Division of Training & Professional Learning seeks proposals in all topic areas related to the conference theme. We are especially interested in receiving proposals for the following categories:

Anti-Oppression Education
• Rethinking our own power and privileged positions, individually and collectively.
• Transforming our schools to be more equitable and just.
• Organizing our locals to be responsive to and representative of diverse populations.

Professional and Career Development
• Instructional practices and content that meet the needs of our diverse student populations now and in the future.
• Exploring the role of educational institutions in supporting our students, educators, families and communities, including issues around school safety.
• Recent and upcoming changes in the use of technology in schools, with negative and positive perspectives welcome. Topics of interest include cell phones in schools and generative artificial intelligence tools.

Union Skills and Leadership
• Organizing members for successful contract campaigns and workplace issues.
• Bargaining and Advocacy training that builds skilled, democratic and effective teams.
• Leadership Skills and Development to sharpen the skills of existing leaders and to train the upcoming generations.
• Health and Safety to address workplace and school violence, as well as safe, healthy buildings for our members and students.
• Political and Economic Education for our members, as the issues we face in our schools are deeply rooted in the issues facing our world, such as immigration, the wealth gap, the environmental crisis and the degradation of democracy.
• Retirement preparation and education regarding our pension plans and their investments.

Community Schools
• Learning about the Community School model as a whole-school transformation strategy, which provides wraparound supports to address the needs of the “whole child” and family.
• Positing community schools as a holistic approach that addresses not just the academic but the physical, mental, social and emotional health needs of students
• Exploring how community schools foster deeper forms of family engagement, parent leadership and collaborative decision-making.
• Illustrating the ways in which community schools advance democracy and serve as neighborhood hubs of democratic engagement and civic life.

The deadline for this Request for Proposals is Sunday, Feb. 23, at 11:59 p.m.

Workshop Schedule
We are seeking proposals of the following lengths:
• 90 minutes - These spaces will be minimal and will likely only happen on Sunday this year.
• 3 hours - To take place in the morning and afternoon.
• 12-plus hours - Spanning over 2-3 days, including Union Skills and Leadership track programs and programs for which we can issue Professional Development Points to PreK-12 teachers seeking license renewal. If your program is PDP-eligible, we will also ask if you are interested in presenting at other times during the summer.