Five years after accepting dramatic concessions to help pull Flint Community Schools out of deficit spending, the district’s teachers have overwhelmingly approved a contract that raises pay, lowers class sizes, and restores MESSA health care benefits, among other improvements. In addition, added provisions aim to create a new educator pipeline through a tuition reimbursement plan for long-term substitute […]
If you put a bunch of educators in a room and ask them to solve what ails public education these days, you might expect they would produce a pretty darn amazing set of recommendations. Lansing grades 7-8 teacher Erika Bushey reports out on her group's recommendations for recruiting and retaining educators. Expectation confirmed. Over several weeks this fall, [...]
“I know my child struggles in reading, but will she pass third grade?” These gut-wrenching words were tearfully repeated many times to me during parent teacher conferences this October. I tried to encourage parents to focus on inspiring a love of reading in their child. I tried to share where benchmark scores, classroom observations, and assignments indicated […]
MEA member Mallory Rivard emerged the winner in a preliminary round of this year’s Miss America pageant, earning a $1,500 scholarship award for her top score in the overall interview round. A first-grade teacher in Bay City, Rivard was crowned Miss Michigan in June. She is the first winner in Miss Michigan pageant history to […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When MEA member Bob Thomson goes to a conference to present data from his “place-based” teaching approach in Alpena Community Schools, educators in attendance tend to doubt they could follow in his footsteps. “If all I do is share the size of this, what it looks like and all the partners […]
Why I wanted to participate: My mother was a bus driver. My aunt’s a teacher. My grandmother’s a bus driver. They were all part of unions, so I’m from a union family. I believe in the strength in numbers, and I believe in advocacy. When I was a first-year teacher, I had some issues where the Minority Affairs Committee came in and helped me by […]
We have a big problem in Michigan schools, folks, and it has nothing to do with test scores or differentiated instruction. It has everything to do with treating teachers like professionals and human beings. Most recently, this came to the forefront for me as a union president assisting an employee who had requested additional time to express […]
Three MEA members who launched an innovative “Incubator” class last year at Novi High School achieved their “moon shot” this week—they paid it forward by donating $5,000 in profits from product sales to help start a similar class at Dearborn’s Fordson High School. Macy’s matched their gift. Novi’s incubator class is all about students taking […]
Six members who signed up for MEA’s new Staples discount program this summer were randomly drawn to win a “classroom refresh” featuring $250 in 3M products: Betsy Spray-Comstock, teacher, Atherton Amanda Feyen, teacher, Manistee Erin Michalak, teacher, Clawson Heather Skulan, teacher, Wakefield-Marenisco Katherine Sibalwa, teacher, Byron Center April Switzenberg, paraeducator, Mason Winner Amanda Feyen (pictured) […]
By Brenda Ortega Editor Something was missing from opening day in Grand Blanc Community Schools this year. For the first time in more than a half century, MEA member Vickie Weiss was not in attendance. In June she completed an astounding 55th year teaching elementary school in the district, and in August she passed away […]
