Frequently Asked Questions
About MSTA
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Does MSTA represent only teachers?
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What is MSTA?
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How can members get involved in the association?
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Why is there more than one teacher group in Missouri?
Q:
Does MSTA represent only teachers?
A:
No. Membership also is available to support personnel, retired teachers, administrators and education students.
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Q:
What is MSTA?
A:
The Missouri State Teachers Association has been the leading education organization in Missouri since 1856, providing members with services and benefits ranging from liability insurance to professional development to legal advice to lobbying. MSTA strives to make Missouri a better place for educators to practice their profession.
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Q:
How can members get involved in the association?
A:
MSTA is made up of local Community Teacher Associations (CTAs) within each school district — an organizational structure that reflects MSTA’s strong commitment to local control. CTA members elect individuals to represent them at MSTA’s annual business meeting. At this Assembly of Delegates, the official positions of the association are debated and voted on.
In addition, each region in the state elects representatives to the MSTA Board of Directors. The board makes policy and staff decisions and is responsible for the budget.
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Q:
Why is there more than one teacher group in Missouri?
A:
At one time there was only one teacher association in Missouri, the Missouri State Teachers Association, which helped found the National Education Association in 1857. However, that changed in 1972, a year that became a watershed for the education profession in Missouri. MSTA delegates were under intense pressure to fall in line with NEA’s unification policy.
The new policy would mean all members would be forced to pay dues to the national association, a policy most MSTA members felt violated their freedom of choice and went against MSTA’s strong belief in local control. There was growing dismay among Missouri teachers that NEA was becoming an all-out labor union.
Clearly, a vote for unification would have been against the will of the membership, but a vote against unification would have meant censure by the powerful national association. The independent-minded Missouri teachers held their ground and voted down unification. Retribution was swift — total disaffiliation from the national organization.
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