By Jessica Lumbreras MEA Political Action Organizer When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pitched her budget plan to lawmakers last month, proposing the biggest increase in public education funding in a generation, I know that many of you felt something you hadn’t experienced in a long time. Hope. It might have been just a glimmer. Maybe you worried about letting it […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor One morning last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sat in a rocking chair to speak with a classroom of fifth graders in Jackson after reading to them from a picture book, What Do You Do with a Chance? The students had conducted research on the governor before her visit, and they asked her questions […]
MEA Vice President Chandra Madafferi on Thursday joined Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a bipartisan group of lawmakers and state business and education leaders in support of House and Senate bills creating the MI Opportunity Scholarship and Michigan Reconnect Program. Opportunities abound for students and adults who complete skills certification training or obtain community college or […]
Incoming third graders next fall will be the first group whose spring test scores will be used to determine if they move on to fourth grade or not, under requirements of the third grade reading law passed by state lawmakers in 2016. Many questions remain about how the law’s mandates will work in practice. One […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When MEA members Hattie Maguire, Kristin Franchi, and Jodi Forster—along with Assistant Superintendent Dr. RJ Webber—started an innovative new class at Novi High School last fall, they expected to figure things out as they went. They just didn’t know how much they would learn—or how quickly. The educators leading […]
By Madonna Jackson, EdD Disadvantaged/LEP Coordinator Mott Community College Treasurer, Professional Technical Unit (Pro-Tech) It is wonderful to hear policymakers such as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer echoing what individuals working within career technical education have known for a long time—opportunity abounds for people who complete quality job skills training through degree and certificate programs. Students, both […]
Join educators from across Michigan to support increasing funding for public education and our students! Tues., June 18, 2019 Tues., June 25, 2019 Michigan State Capitol Lawn Lansing, MI Questions? Contact MEA Public Affairs at (517) 337-5508 or AFT Michigan at (313) 393-2200.
A bill that would forgive Michigan school districts from making up school days cancelled when the governor declares a state of emergency passed the state House this week. HB 4206 now heads to the Senate, where we need to urge approval as soon as possible next week. State law currently provides six snow days per year, and […]
By Jason Stidham Livingston County Resident Re-employed Washtenaw County Teacher Last year was set to be extra special for my family. It marked my 20th anniversary teaching at the same district, and after helping more than 1,500 students move toward graduation at my school, it was now MY daughter’s turn to graduate from the neighboring district […]
Stories by Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Corey O’Bryan never planned to be a teacher. A self-proclaimed nerd in high school, he entered Western Michigan University to study engineering—until discovering he wanted to share his love of math and science more than he wished to pursue his childhood dream of designing robotics for military […]
