Free universal preschool and community college, along with continued record funding for Michigan’s public schools, are at the heart of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed 2024-25 education budget, which she announced Wednesday. Whitmer said her latest budget recommendation “builds on the historic investments we’ve made since I took office and delivers on the issues that make […]
By Chandra Madafferi More than ever, our kids need a running start at a high-quality public education and a boost as they graduate from high school to prepare for the competitive modern workforce. It starts in preschool, which provides the building blocks for student learning and development of essential social skills to last a lifetime. […]
Improved equity, safer roads, lower costs and higher quality. For these reasons and more, the push to return driver’s education to public schools took center stage at a press conference with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Monday in Kearsley. Benson was joined by MEA President Chandra Madafferi, plus educators and students from the Flint-area […]
When Mattawan Middle School won a prestigious award last fall, it wasn’t for a new program or a single employee. The School of Distinction award bestowed on the west Michigan school recognized a building-wide team-based commitment to students built over two decades. This week Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II visited Mattawan Middle in Van Buren […]
EAST LANSING — Michigan Education Association President Chandra Madafferi, a teacher from Oakland County, issued the following statement Wednesday in response to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address: “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer again showed tonight why she’s the most pro public education governor Michigan has ever seen. The governor’s plan to provide every student […]
Retired educator Isabell Nazar could not mathematically pinpoint the positive effects of a new law that will save her pension from being taxed; instead the former 38-year middle school science teacher from rural Homer in Calhoun County declared, “It will improve my life to the nth degree.” A board member of MEA-Retired, Nazar was among […]
By Chandra Madafferi I feel optimistic when meeting first-year educators, who tell me they are excited and ready to face the future. Many say they still chose to go into the profession despite others trying to talk them out of it. These are educators we desperately need to keep – for the sake of our […]
By Heather Palo MEA ARP Organizer Last year MEA member Marissa Rodriguez took ninth graders on a tour of World War I trenches, and she transported sixth graders to countries where certain products began the manufacturing process – then brought them across the globe to watch those consumer items journey to store shelves. A social […]
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of its school librarian, Allen Park High School’s library was recently recognized as Michigan’s 2023-24 “Model 21st Century School Library.” The Library of Michigan’s “Model SL 21” designation, awarded to one school library each year, recognizes “high-quality school libraries and library media specialists” and aims to replicate their […]
EAST LANSING — Michigan educators are facing significant challenges to both student learning and their own workplace satisfaction due to an increase in disruptive student behavior, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest educators union. A majority of educators surveyed reported experiencing student outbursts, damaged property or verbal […]
