Every Wednesday for the past several weeks, Republicans in the state Senate Elections Committee have held hearings on parts of a 39-bill package to restrict voters’ access to the ballot box in line with similar GOP moves across the country. Ever since, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has been ringing the alarm bell. Partisan attempts […]
The Senate Education & Workforce Committee announced late Tuesday that it would take up a revised version of SB 265 at a hearing today, considering new language that would delay the implementation of third-grade reading retention – only to have it apply to BOTH 3rd and 4th graders next year. The originally introduced version of […]
For MEA member Henry Stallings, systemic racism and bias is nothing new in the U.S. “As a Black man, I live this every day,” he says. But one thing is changing, he believes: public awareness of issues surrounding marginalized communities in America. With the approaching one-year anniversary of the brutal police killing of George Floyd, […]
A committee of education professionals and community leaders tasked by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with lighting a path forward for schools released a blueprint on Wednesday to help districts plan how to address the needs of students, educators and families in the next phase of pandemic response. The MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery offers a broad set […]
MEA and AFT Michigan applauded today’s release of the MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Student Recovery Advisory Council, a group that heeded the advice of frontline educators in outlining steps that can be taken to help all students succeed as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. “From day one of […]
MEA member Leah Porter, a 15-year kindergarten teacher from Wilcox Elementary School in Holt, was named the 2021 Michigan Teacher of the Year (MTOY) on Thursday for her commitment to giving all children both the freedom and security of a trusted learning space within her classroom. “I want to instill a love of learning in […]
Watching the videos of educators talking about the educator shortage on www.MichiganEducatorProject.org, it’s readily apparent that solutions to this crisis won’t come quickly, simply or cheaply. For proof, look no further than the recently introduced Senate Bill 418, which would grant two years of school employee retirement service credit for each year worked during this pandemic. This […]
Tuesday marked the beginning of key legislative movement in the State Legislature on both distribution of much-needed federal COVID relief funding and the annual education budgets for the 2021-22 school year. Relief Funding The House passed HB 4421, which appropriated the remaining ESSER 2 ($841 million from December) and all the ESSER 3 ($3.3 billion from […]
Amid our life-and-death fight against COVID-19, we must prepare to wage another high-stakes battle against a dire crisis that is worsening in its wake: the educator shortage. Ask school administrators and they’ll share their struggles to find enough teachers for every classroom. Similarly, there are fewer applicants for counselors, bus drivers, paraprofessionals and other education staff. A complete return […]
MEA member Gary Cooper could have relaxed after retiring from a 30-year career as an autoworker at Ford Motor Co. Instead his upbringing eventually led the 64-year-old former UAW shop steward to a full-time role as a community assistant at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor. The support staff position requires him to wear “quite […]
