State economic experts agreed last Friday that tax revenue is stronger now than previously anticipated – to the tune of $2 billion more for this year and $1.5 billion next year. That’s in addition to federal pandemic relief funding from the American Rescue Plan, which totals more than $4 billion for public education alone. This […]
On Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel led a coalition of 23 attorneys general from across the country urging the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to reinstate and expand 2014 guidance designed to help public schools meet their obligations under federal law to administer student discipline equitably. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of […]
Educators on our Legislation Commission and Board of Directors work every two years to ensure our Legislative Priorities reflect MEA’s values. Among the values embraced in this guiding document, amended and adopted this spring, is language advocating for the rights of ALL students and educators – and opposing bills like SB 218 that attack transgender […]
Every Wednesday for the past several weeks, Republicans in the state Senate Elections Committee have held hearings on parts of a 39-bill package to restrict voters’ access to the ballot box in line with similar GOP moves across the country. Ever since, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has been ringing the alarm bell. Partisan attempts […]
The Senate Education & Workforce Committee announced late Tuesday that it would take up a revised version of SB 265 at a hearing today, considering new language that would delay the implementation of third-grade reading retention – only to have it apply to BOTH 3rd and 4th graders next year. The originally introduced version of […]
The Grandville Education Association believes that every person, regardless of race, color, creed, gender, LGBTQIA+, national origin or physical, intellectual or emotional ability, has the right to equal opportunity for education and employment and equal rights of citizenship as established in the nation and state by the constitutions, statutes and judicial decisions. WHEREAS, in response […]
For MEA member Henry Stallings, systemic racism and bias is nothing new in the U.S. “As a Black man, I live this every day,” he says. But one thing is changing, he believes: public awareness of issues surrounding marginalized communities in America. With the approaching one-year anniversary of the brutal police killing of George Floyd, […]
A committee of education professionals and community leaders tasked by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with lighting a path forward for schools released a blueprint on Wednesday to help districts plan how to address the needs of students, educators and families in the next phase of pandemic response. The MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery offers a broad set […]
MEA and AFT Michigan applauded today’s release of the MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Student Recovery Advisory Council, a group that heeded the advice of frontline educators in outlining steps that can be taken to help all students succeed as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. “From day one of […]
MEA is partnering with the new Michigan Department of Education (MDE) program, Welcome Back Proud Michigan Educators, encouraging educators with expired credentials to return to the teaching workforce by reducing or eliminating professional learning recertification requirements. For more information, visit MDE’s site about the program, which allows local school districts to apply for waivers to help […]
