November 20, 2019 By PAULA HERBART/President – Michigan Education Association How would you like your child’s teacher to be evaluated? By the number of correct “bubbles” filled in on a standardized test? Or by creative lesson plans that develop critical thinking skills under that teacher’s tutelage? If you chose the latter, you are in good company. […]
Testimony continued Tuesday in the Senate Education Committee on legislation meant to provide local flexibility to the Michigan Merit Curriculum. MEA submitted written testimony about SB 600-601, supporting the direction of the bills to provide greater flexibility for districts to design high school requirements that meet the needs of their communities and their students at the […]
Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), who just a year ago was transitioning from a high school English teacher to a state legislator, has introduced SB 633, which would strike the retention requirement in the 3rd grade reading law. In a recent Detroit News column, Polehanki shared her reasoning behind introducing the legislation. “Let’s trust our teachers […]
Last week, a potential deal fell apart to end the standoff over supplemental appropriations to fill gaps in the state budget. Now, with the Legislature’s fall hunting and Thanksgiving break upon us, a solution will likely wait until lawmakers return to Lansing in December. MEA members need to contact all our lawmakers and urge them […]
The ongoing budget battle between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and GOP legislative leaders has taken up much of the oxygen in Lansing lately, but several other key issues are bubbling up to the surface at the Capitol. MEA lobbyists expect members will need to engage on legislation that has been introduced or will soon appear related […]
After nearly a month of stop-and-start discussions between the Governor’s office and the Legislature, schools are still without critical funding needed for this current school year. MEA members need to contact all our lawmakers and urge them to reach agreement on supplemental budget bills that fund priorities that were cut last month because of the lack […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer averted a government shutdown on Monday by signing a state budget sent to her on the eve of a fiscal-year deadline, but she used her veto pen to press Republican leaders in the state House and Senate to return to the negotiating table. Whitmer described the Legislature’s budget as “fatally flawed” in […]
EAST LANSING —The following can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding the education budget signed into law by Gov. Whitmer, along with her line-item vetoes “Aside from the pet projects and vendor contracts Gov. Whitmer line-item vetoed, there are meaningful education programs and initiatives that were also cut. Those are tough choices to […]
Updated Oct. 1, 2019 After revisions negotiated in the State House, the House and Senate passed the 2019-20 School Aid Budget (HB 4242) and sent it to the Governor’s desk on Thursday, Sept. 19. The Legislature’s budget called for a total of $15.23 billion in preK-12 spending. This is a 2.7% fund increase over FY […]
A good first step – but only a step EAST LANSING —The following can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding today’s passage of the K-12 education budget by the Michigan Legislature: “While this budget isn’t everything we had hoped for, it is a good first step to ending the decades long underfunding of […]
