Beginning next week, all Michigan residents ages 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. As Michigan faces increasing cases, Gov. Whitmer has urged all providers to not turn someone away who wants the vaccine. “Because the quicker we can get to that 70 percent-plus (vaccinated) number, the better for every one of […]
The U.S. Department of Education has waived accountability measures tied to standardized tests for this year due to the pandemic, but has yet to act on a request from Michigan’s State Superintendent Michael Rice to waive the requirement that tests like the M-STEP be administered this spring in favor of benchmark testing already required by […]
Becky Lesh, a Waterford bus driver who serves as president of her MEA education support professional (ESP) local and vice-chair of the 7E Coordinating Council, has been named the 2021 Leon A. Brunner Award winner for her tireless work fighting privatization efforts and reversing cuts to positions and pay. In her five years as local […]
If knowledge is power, then MEA member Timmery Foster figures she is helping to make a stronger union by attending this year’s ESP Statewide Conference. Not only did the Howell paraeducator spend time attending sessions at the conference for Education Support Professionals – held virtually this year because of the pandemic – but she also […]
Republican lawmakers’ politically motivated withholding of federal funds for safe reopening of schools is an immoral – and legally questionable – stance amid a COVID-19 surge in Michigan that is among the highest in the nation, four State School Board members said this week. The situation is especially stark in traditionally marginalized communities of color, […]
MEA is looking for exemplary educators interested in mentoring beginning teachers as part of an innovative new program launching this fall. We are one of seven Midwest education associations partnering in an educator-led professional support program to help new teachers succeed in their work and stay in the profession. The program, known as Educators Leading […]
A new program from MEA’s Center for Leadership & Learning will bring together members with a shared interest or identity for five weeks of virtual discussion starting in April. The first groups will focus on social workers, world languages educators, and early elementary members. More groups will be added as the program grows. Early elementary […]
MEA member Owen Bondono may have been the keynote speaker at MEA’s Aspiring and Early Career Educator conference in March, but Michigan’s reigning top teacher began his speech by acknowledging he just as easily could have been an attendee. “I have now had the honor and privilege and terrifying responsibility of being Michigan Teacher of […]
MEA member Jaycob Yang will forever be part of a unique group—educators who began their first year of teaching in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. By December, he was burning out in his position teaching Utica sixth graders who chose to attend virtual school. “Especially in the first half of the year, it was […]
PETOSKEY — The North Central Michigan College Educational Support Professional Association (NCMC-ESP) today filed a second Unfair Labor Practice charge against NCMC for failing to bargain in good faith. The bargaining unit, composed of custodial, maintenance and office personnel, began its affiliation with the MEA following a successful union representation election in May 2018. Collective bargaining […]
