Education Minnesota delegates elect state, national union leaders

For more information, contact:
Megan Boldt
651-292-4818 (work)
651-245-9163 (cell)

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. April 30, 2016 – Education Minnesota's three governing officers were reelected today to lead the statewide educators union for another three years. 

President Denise Specht, Vice President Paul Mueller and Secretary-Treasurer Rodney Rowe all ran unopposed. They were elected at the 2016 Education Minnesota Representative Convention, the union's highest governing body where more than 600 elected delegates meet annually to set policy for the union.

Specht, a fourth-generation teacher and former president of the Centennial Education Association, is finishing up her first term as president. She served the previous six years as secretary-treasurer. Mueller, a Brooklyn Center high school teacher and former governing board member and local leader, was first elected vice president in 2007. Rowe, a Worthington elementary teacher and former governing board member and local leader, is finishing up his first term as secretary-treasurer.

The following educators also were elected to national and state union leadership positions. 

• Donald Sinner, Education Minnesota Lakeville, National Education Association director
• Robin Courrier, Mankato Teachers' Association, National Education Association director
• Todd Andrix, Owatonna Education Association, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member
• Kate Schmidt, Dakota County United Educators, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member
• Lee Carlson, St. James Education Association, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member
• Maureen Morrow, Deer River Education Association, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member
• Julie Blaha, Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member
• Sheila Crabbe, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers ESP, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member
• Marty Scofield, State Residential Schools Education Association, Education Minnesota Governing Board at-large member 

About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.