Educators across the state and nation are coming together to find innovative solutions for e-learning, despite a lack of support from Betsy DeVos and the Trump Administration, wrote MEA member Chris Thomas, a teacher in Ann Arbor Public Schools, in a recent column for Bridge Magazine. “Through the platforms and networks of MEA and NEA,” […]
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos continues to duck responsibility for keeping students and school employees safe from coronavirus, telling an audience gathered Tuesday for a right-wing conference that it’s not her job to track school districts’ COVID-19 cases or reopening plans. DeVos, known by experts as “the worst” education secretary in U.S. history, told attendees […]
With an opponent supported by millions of dollars from a DeVos family-funded super PAC, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters says he has appreciated the support of MEA in this “election of a lifetime.” “Everybody who cares deeply about public education has to know that all of the issues we care about and fought for over many […]
With the volume of ads about the Presidential and Senate races in Michigan, it’s easy to forget that there are critical statewide races down the ballot that impact our students and members. In particular, we have great candidates this year for the Michigan Supreme Court and the four statewide education boards. RSVP now to hear […]
More than 60,000 MEA members have requested absentee ballots, and over 12,000 have already completed and returned their ballots, based on publicly available numbers from the Secretary of State. Are you one of them? If not, there’s still time to Vote from Home. Voting from home is easy — and much safer than lining up […]
September 16, 2020 By PAULA HERBART/President – Michigan Education Association For decades, we’ve all heard the refrain: “This is the most important election in our lifetime.” More than ever, this statement is ringing true for voters with more than 190,000 American lives — and counting — lost to the pandemic, a crumbling economy that has devastated […]
“Our public schools cannot be a casualty of COVID.” Those words from U.S. Sen. Gary Peters—during a May virtual rally for federal education funding to help avoid pandemic-driven cuts—encapsulate why he is MEA’s recommended candidate for Senate this fall. A graduate of public schools and the son of a Rochester educator, Peters has served Michigan in […]
It is a deeply partisan time in Michigan and across the country. But, across partisan lines, MEA’s members have experienced why U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is the wrong person for the job. The outcome of this fall’s presidential election will determine if DeVos continues her push to privatize public schools from the nation’s […]
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 […]
Serving as a state representative isn’t much different from being an elementary school teacher, according to educator-turned-lawmaker Lori Stone (D-Warren), who told her story to attendees at MEA’s Summer Conference last week. The 14-year classroom veteran and MEA member said every legislative session starts with the pledge of allegiance. Seats are assigned. “And I still […]
