It's your right to attend the MEA-MFT Educators' Conference!

It happens every year. Some administrator somewhere in Montana tells a teacher that he or she can't attend the annual MEA-MFT Educators' Conference in October because the district has other plans for those days.

Or, if a teacher is absent on those days due to coaching responsibilities (cross country or football are the two sports that are traditionally active over conference days) or due to personal, sick, or other leave, the administrator says he or she will not be paid for those days.

NONE of this is true. This is what is true: Montana Code Annotated 20-4-304 states:

"The trustees of a school district shall close the schools of the district for the annual instructional and professional development meetings of teachers' organizations. A teacher may attend instructional and professional development meetings without loss of salary or attend other appropriate inservice training, as may be prescribed by the trustees, without loss of salary. If a teacher does neither, he must not be paid."

Bottom line: no one can deny a teacher the right to attend the MEA-MFT Educators' Conference. If teachers elect not to attend the conference, or do not attend a district-approved alternative (an alternative that must be established by the district professional development committee, a majority of which must be teachers), then "they must not be paid."

That said, according to a Montana Attorney General Opinion, if teachers are absent on the conference days FOR ANY REASON, they can be allowed to make up those days, pursuant to the options built into the district's PIR (pupil instruction related) plan.

Know your rights. Get involved in planning your district's PIR days. Participate in your professional development. And if you need advice, call your local MEA-MFT field consultant.