By Andy Jarema In the weeks leading up to the start of the school year, I felt great anxiety as COVID-19 continued to rage across Michigan and the first day of school neared. That feeling deepened when my district decided to begin in-person learning less than a month after we began the school year remotely. […]
The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that school employees who had 3 percent of their salary illegally withheld by the state from 2010-12 are not entitled to be paid additional interest on the money. The decision is the latest twist in a long-running legal saga that grew out of the 3 percent case, which […]
With an opponent supported by millions of dollars from a DeVos family-funded super PAC, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters says he has appreciated the support of MEA in this “election of a lifetime.” “Everybody who cares deeply about public education has to know that all of the issues we care about and fought for over many […]
With the volume of ads about the Presidential and Senate races in Michigan, it’s easy to forget that there are critical statewide races down the ballot that impact our students and members. In particular, we have great candidates this year for the Michigan Supreme Court and the four statewide education boards. RSVP now to hear […]
More than 60,000 MEA members have requested absentee ballots, and over 12,000 have already completed and returned their ballots, based on publicly available numbers from the Secretary of State. Are you one of them? If not, there’s still time to Vote from Home. Voting from home is easy — and much safer than lining up […]
By Randi Trumble As a Lansing School District nurse, my face is the first one my students see after returning from recess with scraped knees or cuts and when they report having stomach aches, runny noses or sore throats. When we return for in-person learning, I’ll have another role: The first line of response if […]
MEA is monitoring developments related to Friday’s Michigan Supreme Court ruling against Gov. Whitmer’s ability to use executive order to help protect the public during this pandemic – particularly as it relates to schools, community colleges and universities. We appreciate Gov. Whitmer’s efforts to keep the public, our students and our members safe, and we […]
Click to view online. In this issue: ICYMI: Scholarship Program for Essential Workers Above and Beyond – Capitol Area Schools My View: The Awakening Finding Strength in Solidarity Election 2020 MEA Member-to-Member Ed-Tech Webinars Meet Urgent Nationwide Need New MTOY: An Advocate for Educators and ‘Marginalized Voice’ MEA’s New LGBTQ Caucus Off to Good […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor During college, MEA member Anthony Pennock worried about whether he could ever be accepted as a gay man in the classroom. Now the sixth-year special education teacher is co-chair of MEA’s new LGBTQ Caucus. Pennock believes in “the power of one.” One teacher. One counselor. One bus driver. One […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Eric Curtiss thought he had a high number of students in his English classes last year when his numbers topped out at 144. This year he has 168, although the number fluctuates. Last year he had five preps, the most in his 22-year career. Now he has […]
