Through the power of collective bargaining and action, MEA members across Michigan have made record strides in 2024 by securing significant pay raises, improved working conditions and a stronger voice in the workplace. In the face of an educator shortage, these contract wins help attract and retain high-quality educators who are well-equipped to serve students’ needs.

“Our MEA local leaders and staff have made amazing progress in every corner of Michigan in supporting our members and ensuring they have what they need to prepare students for success,” said MEA President and CEO Chandra Madafferi, a teacher from Oakland County.

Many of the victories were made possible through MEA’s work in electing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a pro-education majority in the state Legislature.

Working closely with the governor and lawmakers, MEA has successfully secured record education budgets, as well as reversing anti-educator policies enacted by the prior administration that stripped away school employees’ workplace rights and silenced their voices. Significantly, MEA successfully pushed to eliminate a 12-year-old law that prohibited many subjects of bargaining, including teacher placement, layoff and recall, evaluation, discipline, and outsourcing of support staff jobs.

“We are thankful for the great victories that have happened at the bargaining table, which improve learning conditions for our students and lift the entire education profession,” Madafferi said. “We know that there is much more work to be done, and we will continue building on these wins that support our public school educators and help shape the great minds and leaders of tomorrow.”

Here are just a few of the many significant victories achieved at the local level, thanks to the hard work of local bargaining teams and MEA staff:

• Rochester Community Schools teachers secured $33 million in increased compensation and training support over the next three years. The new agreement between the Rochester Education Association and the district will help attract new teachers to the district, including special education teachers, to help serve student needs.
• Flint Community Schools teachers settled a new contract that ended a dramatic three-month showdown with the school board. The school board previously rejected a tentative agreement between teachers and district administrators, but thanks to United Teachers of Flint’s collective action in rallying educators and parents, the school board reached an agreement with teachers that restored pay increases that had been frozen for 10 years.
• Plymouth-Canton Community Schools teachers reached a two-year agreement that restores all previously prohibited subjects of bargaining for Plymouth-Canton Education Association members. The contract also moves staff up three pay steps over a two-year period, increases the starting salary for teachers with bachelor’s degrees to $49,280 and provides a top-step salary of over $100,000 per year for teachers with master’s degrees.
• Clawson Public Schools teachers settled a contract that provides Clawson Education Association members with at least a 3% pay increase, significantly higher longevity bonuses that begin at five years’ service, additional bereavement days and class size reductions. The new agreement also restores previously prohibited subjects of bargaining, including evaluations, progressive discipline, teacher placement and more.
• Iron Mountain Public Schools support staff reached a three-year agreement that provides a starting wage of over $20 an hour for secretaries and other support staff, significantly closing the pay gap between Iron Mountain Education Support Personnel Association members and other Upper Peninsula school districts.
• Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers reached an agreement with the district that restores previously prohibited subjects of bargaining for Ann Arbor Education Association members, including teacher evaluations, discipline, discharge, and layoff and recall.
• Troy School District teachers won a three-year agreement that restores previously prohibited subjects of bargaining and provides Troy Education Association members with annual step increases, a $1,000 bonus and longevity payments for veteran teachers. The hard-fought victory came after numerous shows of solidarity from Troy educators.
• Farmington Public Schools teachers won a three-year agreement that provides Farmington Education Association members with a 14% on-schedule pay increase in the first year and 2% added on-schedule in each of the final two years.
• North Central Michigan College’s Association of Faculty and Professional Staff reached a five-year agreement that provides a 17% salary increase over the life of the contract.
• Manistee Area Public Schools teachers reached a three-year agreement that provides Manistee Education Association members with a 10% salary increase over the three years. The new contract also restores previously prohibited subjects of bargaining.
• Inland Lakes School District support staff negotiated a three-year contract that provides Inland Lakes Education Support Personnel members with a 22% increase over the length of the contract, as well as two additional paid holidays.
• Southgate Community Schools alternative education teachers won a one-year agreement that provides Southgate Alternative Education Association members with a pay increase of between 18%-24% by moving staff to a new salary scale.
• Marquette Area Public Schools education support professionals bargained a new three-year contract that provides members of Marquette Education Support Professionals Unit I with a $5 per hour increase in the first year and a 4% increase in the second and third years.
• Sparta Area Schools teachers settled a contract that provides up to $25,000 in tuition reimbursement for Sparta Education Association members seeking advanced degrees, as well as step increases over the next two years.
• Ignace Area Schools teachers settled a three-year contract that provides St. Ignace Education Association members with a 13% pay increase over those three years.
• Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools teachers signed a three-year contract. The Johannesburg-Lewiston Education Association negotiated an increase in unused sick day pay, added language for preschool teachers, and restored language for assignments and transfers, teacher evaluation, payroll dues deduction, and layoff and recall.
• Mid-Michigan Community College faculty settled a five-year agreement that provides staff with a step advancement and increases pay by 1.75% per year over the first three years. The contract also adds a new top step in each of the first three years that will be 2.2% above the prior top step.
• Hillman Community Schools teachers represented by the Northern Michigan Education Association reached a three-year agreement with a pay increase of 6% in year one. In the second and third years, all professional staff will be placed on steps and provided stipends based on their years of service. There were also additional improvements in class sizes and flex days.
• Gogebic Community College support staff negotiated a one-year contract with step increases, a 4% cost of living increase and additional financial wins.
• Tri County Area Schools teachers settled a new contract that provides Tri County Education Association members with a 4.8%- to 10.8% raise, depending on their placement on the salary schedule. Teachers also successfully bargained for five days of bereavement leave for immediate family members, as well as additional contractual
• North Dickinson teachers successfully bargained the restoration of salary steps that had been previously frozen. North Dickinson Education Association members are receiving salary corrections ranging from $12,000-$20,000.