Click to view online. In this issue: Above and Beyond – Ben Henri Member Voices: Living Life as an Educator Crisis Timeline – From Surreal Spring to Stressed Summer: A Timeline of Tumult and Togetherness Educators Engage in Racial Justice Movement Our Chance to Fire Betsy DeVos Sen. Gary Peters deserves your support for […]
“Our public schools cannot be a casualty of COVID.” Those words from U.S. Sen. Gary Peters—during a May virtual rally for federal education funding to help avoid pandemic-driven cuts—encapsulate why he is MEA’s recommended candidate for Senate this fall. A graduate of public schools and the son of a Rochester educator, Peters has served Michigan in […]
Chuck Waldroup signed up to be a bus mechanic seven years ago with Inland Lakes School District, but to his surprise a driver shortage placed him behind the wheel in a permanent second role. What was your reaction to unexpectedly becoming a bus driver? I thought it was going to be a nightmare with kids […]
It is a deeply partisan time in Michigan and across the country. But, across partisan lines, MEA’s members have experienced why U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is the wrong person for the job. The outcome of this fall’s presidential election will determine if DeVos continues her push to privatize public schools from the nation’s […]
In February, Martin McDonough became president of one of MEA’s largest local units—the Administrative Professional Association (APA) at Michigan State University. The next month, pandemic-related closures hit higher education in Michigan. Formerly a shop steward in the pipefitters union and vice-president of the APA, McDonough knew that in times of crisis people feel especially grateful […]
Kathy Bommarito worries that a decision this spring by the Avondale School District where she is union president could represent a foot in the door for online school vendors seeking to displace educators in the classroom. In May the Avondale School Board agreed to close Avondale Academy—named Michigan’s Alternative School of the Year in 2018—and […]
By Anthony Barnes Special Education teacher Kalamazoo Public Schools Being an educator is much more than a job or a career; it is a lifestyle. Living as an educator means that you strive for the betterment of the next generation. This work does not end when we leave our classrooms and the confines of the […]
MEA member Ben Henri teaches his vocal music and Quiz Bowl students in Grosse Pointe to celebrate each other’s successes, because “It makes everything that much sweeter,” he says. Last month his lesson came full circle when a group of his students held a watch party to see him compete—and win the $100,000 grand prize—in […]
The West Ottawa Education Association has been operating a summer Bookmobile – a library on wheels to bring reading to kids. This year, the program got a new bus, thanks to fundraising, community sponsors, and school district support. Members of the local union gave 1,000 hours of labor to sand, paint, and install bookshelves, enough […]
