In addition to earlier Congressional action on paid leave time, last night the Senate passed a bi-partisan $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which includes economic support for households and additional funding for public education. The House is set to vote as soon as possible on the bill. Read NEA’s summary […]
Advocacy continues to ensure all school employees are paid, all students are educated “MEA wants to thank the many school districts that have done the right thing and continued paying all school employees during this closure,” said MEA President Paula Herbart today, as the COVID-19 school closures approach the two-week mark. “From teachers to hourly […]
When MEA member Lisa Weise first volunteered to coach a robotics team at Holt High School, she knew little about building a robot but was game for a challenge. Now just five years later, her experience and connections are helping to combat the coronavirus outbreak in Michigan. A biology teacher and 2004 Michigan Science Teacher […]
More on Stay Home, Stay Safe order; NEA story on Alpena “Meals on Wheels” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and State Supt. Michael Rice joined MEA President Paula Herbart and other state education leaders in a teletownhall Monday to address questions surrounding statewide school closures. If you missed the call, you can listen to a recording now. […]
You can listen to the recording of Monday’s telephone townhall for MEA, AFT Michigan and AFSCME members with Gov. Whitmer and State Supt. Rice here.
There was a flurry of news activity on Friday surrounding the online learning districts are pushing to deliver for students and how the state was going to count that toward requirements for student contact time this school year. The short version: There’s a lot that the state doesn’t know yet that we need to figure […]
Effective at the close of business today (Friday, March 20), all MEA offices statewide will be physically closed until further notice. Most MEA staff have already been working remotely, but we’re taking this extra step out caution for everyone’s health and safety during this crisis. We remain committed to being there for our members, their […]
Schools nationwide should be freed from mandates to administer state standardized assessments this spring in the wake of widespread school closures across the nation, Michigan education officials said in a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Students will need a focus on social-emotional connection and academic instruction to return to normalcy after the long absence […]
With parents across the state facing many challenges over the coming weeks, MEA President Paula Herbart offers resources for weathering the crisis in her latest “Labor Voices” column in The Detroit News. “As jarring as this is for us as adults, we also must remember that this situation can be even scarier for a 10-year-old,” Herbart […]
Michigan lawmakers adjourned last night without taking action to ensure all school employees get paid during this statewide school closure caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, despite bipartisan support and joint appeals from varied education organizations and educators across the state. Leaders from both the labor and management sides of the education community had worked together […]
