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Statement from MEA President on UAW working toward a contract settlement
EAST LANSING — Michigan Education Association President Chandra Madafferi, a teacher from Oakland County, released the following statement Friday: “We hope a resolution can be found soon in the contract negotiations between the UAW and the Detroit Three automakers. The economic impacts of a drawn-out work stoppage would be devastating for our local communities, including autoworkers and their families, small…

Hungry kids can’t learn — so we’re feeding them
By Chandra Madafferi From planning a holiday feast or sharing Instagram-worthy photos of an amazing meal, food invokes powerful feelings. But for some families that struggle with food insecurity, those strong feelings aren’t necessarily positive. A student once asked me, “Mrs. M., can you just go to a grocery store and get whatever you want, or do you have to…
MEA announces hiring of new Executive Director of Center for Leadership & Learning
EAST LANSING – Veteran educator Arminda Westra has been hired by the Michigan Education Association to be the new Executive Director of the Center for Leadership & Learning, the union’s division devoted to driving education innovation and ensuring every Michigan student gets the quality public education they deserve. “As a product of Michigan’s public schools, a member of a proud…

MEA member’s first-of-its-kind student literacy platform wins MIVirtual EdTech contest
UTICA — MEA member and Utica Community Schools teacher Jonathan Marceau has won first place in the Michigan Virtual EdTech Contest for his first-of-its-kind digital learning platform intended to boost student literacy and reduce prep work for educators. Jonathan Marceau The Utica teacher’s winning pitch, Spelling Safari, reinvents the spelling curriculum with a software solution customized to students’ individual learning…

MEA applauds new Dept. of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential
EAST LANSING — The Michigan Education Association is hailing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s creation of a new state department to better coordinate resources for preschoolers through higher-education students and help ensure every Michigan student has a clear path to reach their full potential. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer The Whitmer Administration on Wednesday issued an executive order creating the Michigan Department of Lifelong…

MEA statement on House passage of restoration of educator rights
EAST LANSING — The following statement can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding today’s passage in the State House of bills restoring a variety of critical educator rights, including House Bills 4354, 4356, 4044, and 4233: “Today’s action by State Representatives passing bills that restore respect for our profession will make a difference in addressing our state’s educator…

42 outstanding public school students awarded 2023 MEA Scholarship
EAST LANSING — The Michigan Education Association announced Friday the recipients of the 2023 MEA Scholarships, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who will be attending a Michigan public university this fall. Among the 422 applications submitted for scholarship awards this year, the MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees chose 23 new award recipients who will each receive $1,400.…

MEA members forge family partnerships, help improve literacy in rural communities
CHARLEVOIX, Mich. — What started as a pilot program to engage families and communities in reading has created new bonds among students, parents and educators in rural communities across Northern Michigan. Through the Family Literacy Projects, MEA members identified families in rural areas with higher rates of poverty to encourage students to read, and parents to read with their younger…

MEA settles frivolous lawsuit filed by right-wing ‘think tank’
EAST LANSING — Today, a federal seal was lifted and a settlement announced regarding a frivolous, politically-motivated lawsuit brought against MEA by a right-wing “think tank” with a decades-long record of attacking public school educators and their unions. In April 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, MEA applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan – a…

Labor Voices: This time, there’s a will to act to protect students from gun violence
Hana St. Juliana. Tate Myre. Madisyn Baldwin. Justin Shilling. Arielle Anderson. Brian Fraser. Alexandria Verner. I could spend the 600 words of this column just printing the names of young people killed by gun violence in our schools, starting with these seven murdered at Oxford High School and Michigan State University. Because, frankly, I’m running out of ways to ask…
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