By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor The professionals entrusted with delivering healthy, delicious food to hundreds of thousands of students in school cafeterias across Michigan say they’re serving more kids than ever as part of the state’s one-year trial of universal free school meals – and rising to the challenge with skill, focus and teamwork. […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor In her nearly 14 years as president of the Clawson Education Association, Kelly Pearson has not bargained a better contract than the one she recently signed. Overwhelmingly approved by membership, the deal struck different responses between early-career and longer-term educators. “Overall, people were happy,” Pearson said of reactions during […]
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 […]
State Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), a former teacher and the chairman of the Senate Pre-K-12 Education Budget, is urging school districts to increase educator compensation by leveraging state funding in the current year’s school aid budget. “We fought hard to get funding for teacher student loan forgiveness and at-risk money that can be used to bolster educator […]
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 […]
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 Chandra Madafferi One of the most important things we can do during the holidays is take time to practice gratitude and remind ourselves of all that we are grateful for. This holiday season, Michigan educators, parents and supporters of public education have a lot to celebrate. Thanks to the hard work of Michigan Education […]
