MEA Budget Bit #1

2009, #1 Executive Office

Since some of our members often wonder what they get for their dues dollars, I’ve decided that this year’s Budget Bits will focus on the various departments at MEA and the services they provide. The first of the departments I’ll detail is the Executive Office, which accounts for 5.18% of the 2009-2010 MEA Budget, or $3,934,405. The Executive Office department comprises all of the governance operations of MEA. Let’s break it down a little.

The Executive Office budget funds the MEA Board of Directors and the MEA Executive Committee (the officers plus a group of 6 members elected by and from the MEA Board that hear legal appeals and act as the personnel committee; their decisions are subject to review by the MEA Board). Funding includes travel costs, loss-of-time and/or substitute costs, and meals for 6 meetings of each body per year.

The MEA Fall and Spring Representative Assemblies, as well as the NEA RA, are also funded out of this department. That includes the lodging, travel, meals and loss-of-time/substitute costs for around 600 RA delegates, in addition to rental of the Lansing Center and costs of printing and mailing RA documents.

All MEA Commissions, Committees and Task Forces are funded out of the Executive Office. This includes mileage, meals and lodging for members of 17 standing committees and various ad hoc committees. The Board of Reference, a panel of MEA members who render decisions on disputes within local associations, is also covered by the Executive Office budget.

The Executive Office is where affiliations with pro-education think tanks and alliances are funded. Membership dues for the National Council of State Education Associations, an organization that provides training for state association leaders, come from here as well.

Building Full Capacity Locals, a program that provides training for local leaders on a variety of topics, is now a part of the Executive Office; prior to this BFCL was part of the Field Services Department.

The Executive Office budget also pays the salary of the president of the United Staff Organization, the union that represents all of MEA’s professional and associate staff. The USO president is comparable to a full-time release local president whose salary is paid by his/her school board.

And yes, there is an actual place called the Executive Office; it’s home base for the three officers, the executive director and four administrative assistants. And while those four assistants do provide support for the officers and exec, they also handle all expense vouchers from the MEA Board, the Executive Committee, and the MEA and NEA RA’s; they plan and make arrangements for the MEA and NEA RA’s as well as the NEA Midwest Leadership Conference; and they coordinate all region elections and region council subsidies.

Please feel free to call or write if you have any questions.

Peggy McLellan
Secretary/Treasurer
Michigan Education Association
(800) 292-1934 x 5500
pmclellan@mea.org