March 20, 2019 By PAULA HERBART/President – Michigan Education Association With reading month every March, educators see a flood of policymakers wanting to spend time in classrooms reading to children and touting the importance of literacy. This year, however, there is a genuine effort to put money behind efforts to help all students read and learn, […]
In this last week before state lawmakers head into a two-week spring break, bills that would impact teacher evaluation and snow day waivers could be discussed in committees this week. Make your voice heard with your state representative and senator on HB 4221 which would return the percentage of an educator’s annual evaluation that is tied to […]
Michigan’s K-12 public schools would receive a $120-180 per-pupil boost in funding, plus additional aid to support the costlier needs of at-risk, special education, and career/technical students, under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s first state budget proposal released today. The governor’s spending blueprint follows the recommendations of several recent studies which examined Michigan’s school funding system and […]
HB 4206 to permanently waive days that schools are closed during a state of emergency declared by the governor got a hearing today in the House Education Committee. The bill could get voted on by the committee next week. Read more about the legislation. HB 4221 to return the percentage of an educator’s annual evaluation […]
EAST LANSING – The following can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding reports of Gov. Whitmer’s proposal to increase education funding in tomorrow’s budget presentation: “Research is clear – from the School Finance Research Collaborative to MSU’s recent study – that we can’t keep shortchanging our students and expect better results. Gov. Whitmer’s […]
Editor’s Note: MEA member Rick Joseph, Michigan’s 2015-16 Teacher of the Year, recently joined with dozens of educators from across the country to call attention to the U.S. government’s prolonged confinement of immigrant children in crowded detention facilities. MEA helped to sponsor Joseph’s participation in the event. Here he reflects on the event’s meaning and importance. […]
A bill to reduce the weight of student test scores in teacher evaluations has been reintroduced in the Michigan Legislature, along with a few other evaluation-related measures that failed to pass in the last legislative session. HB 4221, introduced by Rep. Julie Alexander (R-Hanover), would return the percentage of an educator’s annual evaluation that is […]
Michigan’s high school juniors would have one less standardized test to take each spring, under legislation that passed out of the House Education Committee on Tuesday. HB 4162 would eliminate the ACT WorkKeys career readiness test from the Michigan Merit Examination required of juniors, which also includes the SAT and the M-STEP science and social studies […]
With districts across the state at – or well beyond – the allowed number of snow days, lawmakers are beginning to debate allowing additional days, especially given the historic “polar vortex” that hit the Lower Peninsula last month. Rep. Ben Frederick (R-Owosso) has introduced HB 4206, which aims to permanently waive days when schools are closed […]
