Michigan Education Association member Sarah VanderMeer says her heart aches from missing her developmental kindergartners from Brown Elementary School in Byron Center, so she checks in via FaceTime to see how they’re doing, setting up appointments through parents. VanderMeer taps every tool at her disposal to keep kids connected and engaged during online chats and virtual […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her decision to close schools to protect public health “comes with a burden and weighs heavily on me” in a teleconference call with hundreds of MEA member delegates attending a first-ever virtual MEA Representative Assembly (RA) over the weekend. The governor’s remarks launched an abbreviated version of the annual meeting of […]
In light of the protest in Lansing this week about the Stay Home, Stay Safe orders designed to stop the spread of COVID-19, a new petition is underway showing support for our front-line workers and keeping all of us safe. Operation Compassion shows our health care, food service, delivery and other workers helping to keep […]
While educators across the country are doing amazing things to help our students, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is using this crisis to push her education privatization agenda – this time proposing “microgrants” that sound very much like school voucher programs she’s pushed for years. “Once again, she’s tone deaf. She’s out of touch,” […]
The Michigan Education Association is here to our assist the students, parents, and educators of Michigan during this unique time. The following is a list of resources that has been compiled by our members for you to utilize at home; however we are not endorsing any particular website or program. Please check back next week […]
New distance learning guidelines have been issued by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), taking into account that 500,000 of the state’s 1.5 million students – one-third of the K-12 school population – do not have home internet access. Mostly teacher written, the document is designed to help district administrators and local union leaders who […]
EAST LANSING – The following statement can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding today’s extension of the Stay Home, Stay Safe order through April 30: “MEA supports Gov. Whitmer’s efforts to listen to public health experts and to take the necessary steps to address the coronavirus outbreak. That includes both her decision […]
Click to view online. In this issue: Above and Beyond Whitmer Tucks Poetry in Her Budget Proposal Educators Propose Solutions to School Staff Shortages My View: Five — My Hope for the Future Panel Advises Governor on Recruiting, Retaining Educators of Color: Member Voices from the Field: Davasha Lobbins Miah Cooper Phu Trieu Cateisha Wardlaw […]
A fanciful watercolor painting titled, “Even Cows Deserve a Vacation, Bovine Beach” won the Best in Show Award at the 56th Annual MEA MAEA Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition. The piece was one of two accepted into the show from MEA-Retired member Thomas Thiery, a retired art teacher from Adrian. The painting features a dreamy depiction […]
