Coronavirus

Providing additional academic support for students recovering from the pandemic has become a key use of federal school rescue funds in local districts across Michigan. Many school leaders are spending these resources on tutoring for students who struggled to adjust to learning from home and are now working to catch up. More than 200 school districts throughout the state signaled…

Addressing students’ academic and mental health needs, while lightening the load for overstretched educators, are among the most urgent uses of federal school rescue funds prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to one local union leader in west Michigan. Theresann Pyrett, president of the West Ottawa Education Association, took that message to the White House on Wednesday. Pyrett is among…

Following federal approval of Michigan’s plan to spend federal COVID-relief money, the state will receive the final one-third of $3.7 billion in its education funding approved by Congress in the American Rescue Plan. The U.S. Department of Education approved Michigan’s priorities for the rescue funds earlier this month: expanding early childhood learning opportunities, improving early literacy achievement, and improving the…

(L-R) Farmington Superintendent Dr. Christopher Delgado, MEA President Paula Herbart and Farmington School Board President Terri Weems talk during today’s visit to Warner Middle School. (Credit: Jeffrey Sauger) FARMINGTON, Mich. - Following the largest education investment in Michigan’s history of $17 billion – which closed the funding gap between the highest- and lowest-funded school districts all without raising taxes –…

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee advanced a series of bills that would bar local school districts from requiring masks and other measures to keep students and educators safe. SBs 600-603 now go to the full Senate for their consideration – the bills prohibit a variety of health and safety mandates from the state, local health departments and individual…

This week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released new guidance about layering protections for safer school operations during COVID-19.  They echo recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about in-person school this fall. As rising case levels show, this pandemic is not over. MEA continues to believe health and safety must be the…

A committee of education professionals and community leaders tasked by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with lighting a path forward for schools released a blueprint on Wednesday to help districts plan how to address the needs of students, educators and families in the next phase of pandemic response. The MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery offers a broad set of recommendations for schools to…

MEA and AFT Michigan applauded today’s release of the MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Student Recovery Advisory Council, a group that heeded the advice of frontline educators in outlining steps that can be taken to help all students succeed as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. “From day one of her administration, Gov. Whitmer has…

Every year at this time, talk of the state budget in Michigan can be confusing because of competing spending plans that must get negotiated. However, this year’s discussions about education funding have added complexity from various federal COVID relief acts for responding to the public health crisis. Also complicating the conversation is the fact that Republican leaders in the House…