MEA member Jeff Kass was a mid-career English teacher when his take-home pay began going down each year. Amid rising costs of living, the Ann Arbor educator—like others—took on second and third jobs, including one year moonlighting as a pizza delivery driver. With a former student serving as his manager, Kass worked a few shifts […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Ask MEA Economist Ruth Beier about her youth, and you might get a wry joke with a deadpan delivery: “I describe my childhood as Lord of the Flies in the suburbs. It was a pack of kids and some Cap’n Crunch.” Truth is—she’s not kidding. On the precipice of […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer got a close-up look at the work of a literacy specialist when she job shadowed MEA member Kristyn Cubitt at Troy’s Wass Elementary School in March. Whitmer observed Cubitt co-teaching a readers’ workshop lesson followed by a coaching session with a third-grade teacher. She also saw Cubitt run a Leveled Literacy Intervention […]
Reaching and teaching amid coronavirus school closures By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Sarah VanderMeer says her heart aches with missing her developmental kindergarteners from Brown Elementary School in Byron Center, so she checks in via FaceTime to see how they’re doing, setting up appointments through parents. Recently she spent half an hour […]
Education has become a front-burner issue in a bid for re-election by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters in Michigan because of the stark contrast between him and his opponent, he says. Peters has fought back against the destructive budget cuts and policies of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. His Republican challenger, John James, is being aided […]
Rolonda Gleason is a secretary at Ferris State University. The Alaska native knows what it’s like to work without a union, so now she’s a one-woman MEA welcoming committee. What work did you do before coming to FSU? I was a support-staff person at the University of Alaska and worked closely with the School of […]
You can listen now as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and members of her education policy staff join MEA, AFT Michigan, and AFSCME for a Teletown Hall following her Thursday announcement that schools will remain closed for the rest of this school year. Whitmer told thousands of union members assembled on the call: “I know this is hard, […]
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-35 earlier today, which orders all K-12 school buildings to close for the remainder of the school year — unless restrictions are lifted — and ensures at-home learning will be provided to students, families in need will still be provided meals, and all school employees will continued to receive […]
EAST LANSING – The following can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding Gov. Whitmer’s executive order suspending in-person school operations for the rest of the school year (or until schools are deemed safe to reopen): “The Michigan Education Association supports Gov. Whitmer’s executive order to close in-person public school operations to help slow […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor If schools remain closed for the rest of the year, educators at the local level should decide what learning opportunities are most important to provide for their students and how best to deliver them, says MEA President Paula Herbart. The union has been advocating for local control of local […]
