Advocating for the Educator Diversity Act (EDA)

Latinos for Education helped form the MA Educator Diversity Act Coalition, which MABE is an active member of. This session, the Educator Diversity Act Coalition worked to pass the EDA in both the House and Senate as an amendment to the Economic Development Bill and was then sent to a conference committee.

However, the legislature was not able to report out the Economic Development Bill for a vote before the end of session. Nevertheless, we still hold out hope for the EDA for two reasons. First, the policy amendments attached to the Economic Development Bill can still be reported out for a vote during informal session (which ends with the 2024 calendar year), something the House Speaker committed to working on. Second, the Governor has called for a special formal session specifically for the Economic Development Bill. Both the House Speaker and Senate President have responded to this request and shared they are willing to call the formal session.

The Educator Diversity Act Coalition and MABE thanks you all for the role you have played in the legislative wins this session. In just the past 7 months we:

• Held our first ever rally and another impressive hill day with over 100 people in attendance
• Passed in the House (just like last session)
• Sent over 100 letters to Senators in just 24 hours asking they pass the EDA
• Passed in the Senate unanimously (historic first-time achievement)
• Got assigned to a conference committee (also a first-time win)
• Sent a letter signed by over 100 organizations, including our union partners, to the conference committee in support of the EDA

These high-level wins and all the work it took to get here cannot go unnoticed or without celebration. The EDA has only gone through 2 sessions, and we have gotten so far!