Today in Arizona, educators are taking another step forward in protesting cuts to school funding over the past decade. Here in Michigan, thousands of MEA members are wearing red in a show of solidarity.
Policymakers – like DeVos supporter Bill Schuette – must
Value Students, Respect Educators, and Fund Our Schools
EAST LANSING – The Michigan Education Association won a union representation election at North Central Michigan College (NCMC) in Petoskey on Thursday, April 19. In an on-site election conducted by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) at the college, a majority of the 33 employees working as office/clerical professionals and custodial/maintenance workers voted to join the union.
Jon Fielbrandt is a high school chemistry and math teacher in Warren. He’s also a gun owner who thinks arming teachers is a bad idea, so he joined hundreds of MEA delegates to the spring Representative Assembly who delivered that message to state policymakers on Friday.
By PAULA HERBART/President – Michigan Education Association
Last week began the soul-crushing season of standardized test taking in Michigan schools. The overemphasis on “bubble tests” dulls the love of learning for both students and educators. And it’s about to get worse.
Flint schoolchildren will receive universal screening for effects of lead exposure related to the Flint water crisis, and educators will receive training on identifying children potentially harmed by lead poisoning, under a lawsuit settlement announced this week.
Two dozen Michigan schools from 21 districts will be newly offered a “Partnership Agreement” with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to improve academic performance over the next few years or face additional consequences.
The “partnership agreement” model of addressing schools with low test scores began one year ago to avoid the controversial move of closing down neighborhood schools. This year’s list includes 16 charter schools.
March 21, 2018
By PAULA HERBART/President – Michigan Education Association
How much does it cost to provide a student with an adequate education?
The short answer: much more than we are currently spending. A report released last month should be a wake-up call for policymakers to fix Michigan’s education funding system. The study by a diverse group of business leaders and education experts pegged the base per-pupil cost to educate a K-12 student in Michigan at $9,590, an increase of 16 to 26 percent over current funding levels of $7,600 to $8,300 per pupil.
The percentage of a Michigan teacher’s evaluation that is tied to student test scores would remain at 25 percent instead of jumping to 40 percent next fall, under legislation recently introduced at the recommendation of MEA.
Bills that would eliminate paid release time for union officials have passed the Senate Education Committee in spite of opposition from numerous school superintendents.
