The Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA) is an unprecedented coalition of community groups, activist organizations and labor unions joining forces to defend and strengthen public schools across the commonwealth. Drawing from many of same the organizational and political insights behind the national Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, Schott was proud to support many of MEJA’s founding partners in 2015. In a state where advocacy is too often fractured by issue and geography, MEJA members committed to working through the difficult organizational and relational conversations to build a coalition strong enough to meet the demands of the present.

Soon after, MEJA faced its first real test: opposing a harmful ballot measure that would have dramatically expanded charter schools and overridden local control. MEJA brought together hundreds of organizations in a Save Our Public Schools campaign and won big, by 62% to 38%.

During the Trump administration, MEJA continued to grow, hiring Charlotte Kelly as Executive Director in 2018 and building coalition tables in seven regions to advocate for equitable resources and democratic control of our schools — key to winning victories at the state level in an era of federal setbacks.

MEJA’s organizers were key to passing the most significant education legislation in Massachusetts in decades: the 2019 Student Opportunity Act. This bill has committed $1.5 billion per year in new aid to public schools, with a special focus on equity, so schools and communities that need these resources the most will get the most.

During the pandemic, MEJA has fought to ensure that remote schooling is fair and that schools reopen with the proper safety equipment and policies. In late January, the group called for a comprehensive, state-run and in-school vaccination program for every school with a vaccination rate under the statewide average of 75%, as well as more supplies of high-quality masks for students and educators.

The new challenges and opportunities MEJA faces in 2022 will be met with a new leader too. Vatsady Sivongxay was recently hired as the organization’s new executive director, bringing a wealth of organizing and coalition building experience from her time working at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). “As a refugee immigrant, parent, and a product of public school education, I know first-hand how critical high-quality public education and collaborative partnership among students, parents, educators, and communities are to ensure a better future,” Sivongxay said. Her background as an attorney, advocate, public policy director, and entrepreneur as well as her experience as a refugee immigrant drives her commitment to equity in public education and the diverse movements rooted in racial justice necessary to win it.