Amherst’s Max Page Elected President of State Teachers’ Union

Source:  Massachusetts Teachers Association

Max Page, a professor of architecture at UMass Amherst and the current vice president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) has been elected to be the union’s next president. Page will succeed current MTA President Merrie Najimy, who is completing her second and final term, on July 15.

Page, a former president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, received 735 votes out of 1,192 cast on Saturday during the association’s 177th Annual Meeting of Delegates. Two other candidates for president, former MTA Vice President Erik J. Champy and Lamikco (Meka) Magee, President of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association, received 306 votes and 151 votes, respectively.

Deb McCarthy, a longtime leader in Hull, won the contest for vice president with 813 votes out of 1,190 cast. Donna Grady, the local association president in Franklin, received 377 votes.

Page, taking the stage after the election results were announced, thanked the delegates for placing their trust in him. He said the election was a mandate for the platform that he and McCarthy had run on – including a commitment to ensure that Education Support Professionals are paid a living wage and a continued fight for debt-free public higher education.

“You are incredible activists for public education,” he said. “This mighty MTA is the vehicle by which we will change the world,” Page added. “I can’t wait to get to work with Deb and all of you.” McCarthy said her win was a tribute to her support for all education workers, including ESPs and adjunct faculty members.

The MTA has 117,000 members in close to 400 local associations throughout Massachusetts representing teachers, college faculty, professional staff, and education support professionals working at public schools, colleges and universities across Massachusetts.