Editor’s Note: This story is one in a series on various ways Michigan districts are spending federal Elementary and Secondary School Relief (ESSER) money – allocated by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in the American Rescue Plan to address challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the heels of the COVID-19 […]
The deadline for spending $5.57 billion of federal money sent to Michigan school districts amid the pandemic looms large in many places that still lag behind the pace needed to allocate those dollars in time. The funding came in the form of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program during the COVID-19 pandemic’s […]
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic rippled out into nearly every aspect of our lives, and public education was no exception. Michigan’s students and educators have faced unprecedented challenges in the aftermath of extended periods of remote learning and emotional trauma inflicted by a worldwide pandemic. To help alleviate the impact and ensure our neighborhood […]
As local bargaining teams head to negotiating tables this spring, MEA has new data showing in many places educator compensation has not kept pace with school funding increases, information which could be used to justify significant pay increases. Statewide trends show all school employees’ compensation as a share of total school district expenditures has fallen […]
The American Rescue Plan (ARP), touted by President Biden as “gamechanger,” delivered vital funding to Michigan’s public schools in the wake of the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, the federal government provided $1.7 billion in support to Michigan’s education budget. By 2021, that number swelled to $7.9 billion with the support of Democrats […]
School districts may have until April 2026 to spend federal school rescue dollars, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced. To qualify for this extension, school districts must have a signed contract for the expenditure and an extension request approved by the Michigan Department of Education prior to Sept. 30, 2024. This extension will provide […]
Providing additional academic support for students recovering from the pandemic has become a key use of federal school rescue funds in local districts across Michigan. Many school leaders are spending these resources on tutoring for students who struggled to adjust to learning from home and are now working to catch up. More than 200 school […]
Addressing students’ academic and mental health needs, while lightening the load for overstretched educators, are among the most urgent uses of federal school rescue funds prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to one local union leader in west Michigan. Theresann Pyrett, president of the West Ottawa Education Association, took that message to the White House […]
MEA member Joe Ligaj has a blunt message for school administrators and state-level policymakers concerned about educator shortages: If you pay them, they will come. “This is just basic economics—Econ 101,” the president of the Lincoln Park Education Association (LPEA) said. “There’s a labor shortage, and the way to address that is through the contract: […]
The pressures of COVID have reinforced a belief long held by David Schneider, a Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) professor and the faculty union’s chief negotiator for 25 years: “Not everything needs to be negotiated for us to have a voice.” Funding in three federal COVID-relief packages included tens of millions of dollars for Michigan […]
