The state House on Monday approved a compromise package of bills that provides answers about student counts for school funding, benchmark testing and other important matters as the 2020-21 school year begins amid the COVID-19 pandemic. House Bills 5911-13 now go to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for a signature after passing the state Senate in a […]
The state Senate has scheduled an unusual Saturday session for this weekend, and while nothing is yet certain, early indications are that the goal will be to pass measures related to the return to school this fall. Less clear is whether the agenda will include bipartisan solutions to pandemic-related challenges or partisan schemes that use […]
The U.S. Senate is poised to finally begin taking action on the next round of COVID-19 federal relief, which needs to include additional funding to help states and schools navigate this crisis. The U.S. House passed the HEROES Act in May, and since then NEA and MEA have been calling on Congress to pass $175 […]
The State House has passed – and now the State Senate is considering – a series of Republican-introduced education bills that contain a variety of concerning measures, including allowing the outsourcing of virtual instruction. “This legislation uses the cover of a pandemic to push extreme ideas that are straight from the playbook of Betsy […]
EAST LANSING — The following can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding the House passage of HBs 5910-5193 this evening: “This legislation uses the cover of a pandemic to push extreme ideas that are straight from the playbook of Betsy DeVos to make a profit off the education of our students. “The most […]
EAST LANSING — The following can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding today’s approval of an agreement between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature on the current year’s state budget: “I applaud Gov. Whitmer and legislative leaders for working together to pass this budget plan, which will help minimize the negative impact the […]
UPDATE 7/22 – On largely party line votes, HBs 5910-5913 passed the House Education and Ways & Means Committees before being passed on the House floor Wednesday evening. Deviations from party lines included Rep. Scott VanSingel (R-Grant), who was the sole GOP vote against HB 5910 but voted in favor of the other three bills […]
The Legislature is expected to enact a supplemental budget bill this week to address pandemic-driven revenue shortfalls for the school year that ended in June. As announced a few weeks ago, Gov. Whitmer and Republican legislative leaders agreed to a budget resolution that filled funding gaps with federal CARES Act dollars, State Budget Stabilization Fund […]
To safely reopen for in-person learning next fall, schools across the state will be required to enact one of a range of safety plans based on the COVID-19 threat level their particular region is facing at a given time, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Tuesday. The MI Safe Schools Return to School Roadmap resulted from the […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders announced a deal on Monday evening to address the current year (Fiscal Year 2020) budget shortfall in part by allocating funds from the federal CARES Act sent to Michigan earlier this year. Monday’s announcement only deals with the current year budget gap – this does nothing to solve next […]
