HELENA — Montana’s largest union has selected its next president: Melissa Romano, a teacher and state lawmaker from Helena.
The Montana Federation of Public Employees represents about 18,000 members across the state, from public school teachers to Montana Highway Patrol troopers to a variety of state agency employees. This weekend, more than 300 delegates gathered at their annual conference in Helena, where they selected their next slate of leaders.
“Our union is strong when our members are engaged, and after this conference, I definitely felt that members are ready to lead, they want to be informed, they want to be engaged,” Romano told MTN. “This is a great opportunity right now that we have; we've got a lot of members who feel empowered to do that.”
(Watch the video to hear more from Romano.)
Romano is a longtime teacher with Helena Public Schools, currently teaching eighth grade math at Helena Middle School. She was Montana’s Teacher of the Year in 2018.
Romano was also the Democratic nominee for Montana superintendent of public instruction in 2016 and 2020, and she is currently in her second term in the Montana House.
“I think having relationships and being able to talk with legislators and policymakers about our shared values will be incredibly important, and I'm looking forward to doing that,” she said.
Current MFPE President Amanda Curtis has been leading the union since 2020, when she took over for longtime leader Eric Feaver. Curtis didn’t seek another term as president this year, and she plans to return to her hometown of Butte as a teacher next school year.
“Together over the past six years, we’ve won historic pay plans for state and higher education employees, secured a statewide school health trust, and held the line against unaccountable privatization and union busting,” Curtis said in a statement from MFPE. “I’m grateful to all members for stepping up to lead across this state, and I know Melissa will take this baton and run.”
Romano says one of the first fights she’ll be preparing for going into the next Montana legislative session will be over the future of MFPE’s educator conference. Senate President Sen. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen, have called for legislation to prevent teachers from receiving professional development credit for attending conferences that featured what they called “extreme leftist ideology.” It came after MFPE’s 2025 conference, which Republicans criticized over some of the presentations featured, including one on LGBTQ issues.
Romano says she plans to finish out this school year at Helena Middle School and to keep her seat in the House until the end of the year – though she did not run for reelection. Curtis will officially hand over the reins at MFPE on June 15.
“I think one of the things that we're all really wanting to tackle head on is just getting more members, and to have every member in our union be really informed so that they can continue to be engaged in the union,” Romano said.
