In response to violence in schools, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was passed in 2022 with the purpose of providing schools across the country with billions of dollars in grants to help make schools safer. The Greenlights Grant Initiative (GGI) is helping to get those funds spent in America’s schools. A project launched this summer […]
The Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) is coordinating help for educators affected by the Lahaina fires – one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. The HSTA is reporting that at least 57 teachers lost their homes or have had to relocate as a result of the Maui wildfires. Another 44 educators suffered property damage. […]
Editor’s Note: This story is one in a series on various ways Michigan districts are spending federal Elementary and Secondary School Relief (ESSER) money – allocated by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in the American Rescue Plan to address challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the heels of the COVID-19 […]
Union members across the state are coming together to celebrate Labor Day on Monday, September 4th. From Detroit to Negaunee, the labor movement is stronger than ever. Bring your family and join your union family at these events MEA is formally participating in: Detroit Labor Day March with President Madafferi and Vice President Smith: MEA […]
In the union, we often say that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Student teachers are no different. Retired MEA members (MEA-R) have partnered with Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM) and serve as mentors to AEM members who are undergoing the rigors of student teaching. Any AEM member who is […]
Three secretaries and a band director in Rochester found some closure in bringing complaints and publicly testifying against a school board trustee whose social media post and television news appearances sparked a deluge of vile, threatening phone calls to Hart Middle School. With the help of their union, the educators bravely shared their experiences in […]
MEA member Darrin Watkins has been a paraeducator in Pontiac for longer than he can remember – somewhere around 30 years – and he has a few ideas about how special education could be restructured and resourced to improve services and keep people in the field. Watkins was among 30 special education paras from across […]
‘The pendulum is finally swinging back’ Last year Angie Pullen began her fourth term as president of a local unit of paraeducators and administrative assistants in Cadillac and saw the fruition of 10 years of effort in the form of a powerful new contract. For the first time, Pullen’s bargaining team joined forces with the […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As Chandra Madafferi begins her tenure as president of MEA, anyone wondering what she will prioritize in the new role can look to her stewardship of the Local Presidents’ Academy (LPA) to understand what she values most in leadership. Systems thinking. Empathic listening. Transformative change. A longtime teacher and […]
MEA member Ronald Smith could have been a science professor at a big, prestigious four-year university, but he chose to spend his 50-year career teaching students at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek – and that has made all the difference, he says. Smith retired from his post teaching physical sciences last spring and in […]
