By PAULA HERBART/President – Michigan Education Association
Last spring’s surge of educator walkouts from West Virginia to Oklahoma, North Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, and Arizona revealed the force behind a different political wave crashing on shores across the country this fall: educators running for office.
Five months ago, MEA members in Charlotte faced disciplinary action for wearing “red-for-ed” shirts in coordination with each other. Scared but undeterred, they participated in a statewide “Wednesday Walk-in” last May despite the superintendent’s threats, and he eventually backed down.
During a recent community forum on education and urban issues, gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer had no shortage of examples to show what she would seek to change if elected.
Now that the comment period is over for controversial proposed changes to Michigan’s K-12 Social Studies standards, educators can apply to join a task force that will review public feedback and make recommendations.
The deadline to apply for the task force is noon on Wednesday.
For the second time in the 15-year tenure of Ferris State University President David Eisler, faculty members have approved a resolution of “No Confidence” in the FSU leader for his administration’s poor handling of contract negotiations which has led to a faculty strike and ongoing turmoil at the university. The MEA-affiliated faculty union resoundingly approved…
The Detroit News editorial board chose to cut nearly a third of the column that MEA President Paula Herbart submitted for her monthly “Labor Voices” column, which appeared in the paper last week. The nearly 200 words they chose to cut explained (with cited quotations) the positions of candidates Gretchen Whitmer, Bill Schuette, Debbie Stabenow…
EAST LANSING – The Michigan Education Association is pleased to announce our recommendations for important races for the Michigan Supreme Court, Congress, and the four statewide education boards. For the Michigan Supreme Court, while only two seats are available, MEA is recommending our members cast their ballot for two of three exceptional candidates for the…
After months without action, House Bill 5707 – the bipartisan bill that would freeze the percentage of evaluations based on student growth at 25 percent instead of a planned increase to 40 percent – will receive a hearing this Thursday in the House Education Reform Committee. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Miller (R-Sturgis), addresses one…
EAST LANSING – At their last meeting, MEA’s Board of Directors voted to support four of the ballot measures that should appear on the November ballot and recommend that our members and other supporters of public education vote YES on these proposals.
This week’s strike and picketing by the Ferris Faculty Association reminds us all what Labor Day means — so join MEA and AFT Michigan members as they come together all over Michigan on Monday in #RedForEd solidarity. Labor Day events are planned across the state. Visit our Action Network page to find an event near you…
