EAST LANSING — The following statement can be attributed to Michigan Education Association President Paula Herbart in response to Wednesday’s state Senate passage of legislation restoring workplace rights to school employees: “This is a great day for educators, students, parents and local schools across Michigan. Frontline educators deserve to have a voice in the workplace, […]
The state House on Thursday passed a package of bills to bring back educators’ voices to workplace decisions, restoring collective bargaining rights taken away under a GOP-controlled legislature and former Gov. Rick Snyder a dozen years ago. This critically important package of bills passed along party lines and now moves to the Senate. Take a […]
When most people think of summer, they think of sunshine and relaxation. But for many Michigan children struggling with mental health issues, summer can be anything but tranquil. Our kids are dealing with unprecedented mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression and other behavioral issues. The prevalence of such challenges among our children was already on […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When MEA member Sarah Ellis learned she had several months to create five works of art on a theme of “inspiration,” she chose to honor her school district’s media specialist – Christine Beachler – who has faced ongoing harassment while staunchly defending students’ access to books over three years. […]
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 […]
EAST LANSING — The Michigan Education Association announced Friday the recipients of the 2023 MEA Scholarships, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who will be attending a Michigan public university this fall. Among the 422 applications submitted for scholarship awards this year, the MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees chose 23 new award recipients […]
UPDATE (May 30) — MEA members in Dearborn Heights, including teachers, administrative assistants and paraprofessionals, have passed a no-confidence vote on Superintendent Ty Weeks by a 187-1 margin. A protest led by educators in Dearborn Heights School District #7 – joined by local parents and students along with MEA members from across the metro Detroit […]
Last November, Grosse Ile fifth grader Ava felt conflicted emotions when her teacher – MEA member Jaime Churches – won election to the state House of Representatives. She wanted Churches to win, but she didn’t want her to leave the classroom. On Thursday, with the school year drawing to a close, the youngster’s eyes lit […]
UPDATE: The House Labor Committee passed House Bills 4354-4357 on Thursday, May 25. The legislation will now proceed to the full House for consideration, likely in June. In the early hours of Thursday morning, over a dozen MEA members from across the state made the drive to Lansing to make their voices heard in the […]
It was April 1 of this year when MEA member Stacey Daniels received an email that said $50,000 of her student loan debt had been forgiven. The Flushing teacher was among hundreds of members who utilized MEA assistance in applying for a temporary waiver last year that relaxed some qualifying rules for the federal Public […]
