Launch Michigan — a broad coalition of education, labor, business, philanthropic and civic organizations dedicated to improving Michigan’s education system for all students — has released its Framework for transforming Michigan’s educational system to equip students for a world economy. The Framework is unique in its scope, ambition, and density. No other education transformation effort […]
School districts may have until April 2026 to spend federal school rescue dollars, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced. To qualify for this extension, school districts must have a signed contract for the expenditure and an extension request approved by the Michigan Department of Education prior to Sept. 30, 2024. This extension will provide […]
Students share ideas for positive change through essay contest EAST LANSING — Michigan elementary school students recently shared their ideas to make positive change in their communities, with six winning a statewide essay contest spearheaded by the Michigan Education Association’s Aspiring Educators of Michigan program. With the award-winning children’s picture book “We Are Water Protectors” […]
The firsthand accounts of survivors of school shootings are gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and becoming far too common. As preventable acts of violence continue to take the lives of students and educators across the country, recent polling shows MEA members stand firm in their support of common-sense laws to improve gun safety and prevent school shootings. A […]
By Brenda Ortega, MEA Voice Editor Michigan Education Association MEA member Leah Ramirez is sick and tired. Sick of conducting practice lock downs to prepare against potential violence with her kindergarten students in Northview Public Schools in Grand Rapids. Tired of trying to reassure them they are safe despite the grim reason behind the drills. […]
We all watched in horror the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, where 26 people, including 20 first-graders — precious kids with their whole lives in front of them — were murdered in a hail of bullets. A few years later, we watched what happened at Stoneman Douglas High School: 14 children and three school staff, […]
Part 5 of our 5-part “Freedom to Read” series By Brenda Ortega, MEA Voice Editor Michigan Education Association Near the end of May two members of the Michigan State Board of Education proposed a resolution seeking to criminalize the work of teachers, librarians and administrators who allow students to read library books deemed “inappropriate” by […]
Last Thursday, after MEA helped increase pressure on lawmakers, the House and the Senate passed HB 6012, a supplemental budget appropriation for Oxford Community Schools in the aftermath of the tragic school shooting there on Nov. 30. The bill provides $9.8 million for Oxford to spend over two years, with funds allocated for: personnel, additional […]
Part 4 of our 5-part “Freedom to Read” series By Brenda Ortega, MEA Voice Editor Michigan Education Association MEA member Troy Hicks has always been aware of the dangers of censorship as a professor of English and education at Central Michigan University. But he remembers when his thoughts grew into concerns this year. A troubling […]
Part 3 of our 5-part “Freedom to Read” series By Brenda Ortega, MEA Voice Editor Michigan Education Association MEA member Christine Beachler has felt especially valued this year in Lowell Area Schools, east of Grand Rapids, where her expertise and well-established library policies and procedures have served as a bulwark against a sudden burst of […]
