Meanwhile MEA and MFT competed mostly for bargaining rights in school districts and Montana university system. Each raided the other. Where there was an opportunity to organize an unaffiliated group of education employees, each worked hard to win the bargaining unit election. Each expended enormous time, energy, and money organizing much the same membership and raiding each others domains. As stated above, however, MEA concentrated on public education employees while MFT in competition with MPEA also organized public employees outside education. Even though MPEA organized classified, or non-certificated public school support personnel, it never attempted to organize public school teachers. So, it came to pass that the public and the media viewed MEA as a teacher union, but not so much MFT, and never MPEA.