Author: Miriam Garcia
Lawmakers must restore educators’ voice in the workplace
During a sustained political assault on the education profession a decade ago, educators had many rights stripped away that provided a critical voice in their classrooms and workplaces. Soon, state lawmakers may restore these essential bargaining and job security rights to help stabilize the education workforce and improve the quality of education our kids receive. […]
MEA Elections Information
Paula Herbart Candidate for President Bio MEA President Herbart took office in 2017. A music teacher from Macomb County, Herbart served as local president, 6-E coordinating council chair and president of MEA/NEA Local 1 and was on the MEA and NEA Board of Directors. She has served as Vice-President/Mid-West Region on the National Council of […]
MEA Voice Magazine – April 2023 Issue
Click to view online. In this issue: Letter to Members: We are champions Member art teacher in Livonia wins top prize in MEA/MAEA Art Exhibition The Future is Now: The Sometimes Forgotten Benefit My View: Dear Past, Present and Future Educators In the wake of MSU shooting, loss, grief, anger and activism Small district, big […]
Letter to Members: We are champions
If you’ve been keeping up with developments at the state Capitol since January, you know some good things are happening and more is in the works. Democratic leaders in both chambers passed a rollback of the state’s unfair retirement tax, which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed along with an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit […]
Local EA president urges Legislature to provide sustainable tutoring funding
A state House committee heard testimony from West Ottawa Education Association President Theresann Pyrett today in support of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Kids Back on Track program and the importance of funding academic interventions for students in the wake of the pandemic. “While I am infinitely proud of the work our district and members did […]
MI Dem leaders, Gabby Giffords rally for gun safety legislation, which passes Senate
Winnie Brinks may be the new state Senate Majority Leader from Grand Rapids, but on Feb. 13 she was another of so many parents “sick with dread” while texting a son or daughter locked down on campus at Michigan State University amid an active shooting. Sen. Brinks was among the Democratic leaders, MEA President Paula […]
MEA settles frivolous lawsuit filed by right-wing ‘think tank’
EAST LANSING — Today, a federal seal was lifted and a settlement announced regarding a frivolous, politically-motivated lawsuit brought against MEA by a right-wing “think tank” with a decades-long record of attacking public school educators and their unions. In April 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, MEA applied for and received a Paycheck Protection […]
Legislators look to restore collective bargaining rights for school employees
State laws severely restricting educators’ collective bargaining rights could be on the chopping block if state Rep. Matt Koleszar, an MEA member and former teacher, gets his way. The House Labor Committee held its first hearing Thursday on one of Koleszar’s new bills, House Bill 4044, which would repeal a 12-year-old law that freezes employees’ […]
Labor Voices: This time, there’s a will to act to protect students from gun violence
Hana St. Juliana. Tate Myre. Madisyn Baldwin. Justin Shilling. Arielle Anderson. Brian Fraser. Alexandria Verner. I could spend the 600 words of this column just printing the names of young people killed by gun violence in our schools, starting with these seven murdered at Oxford High School and Michigan State University. Because, frankly, I’m running […]