Wendy Winston, a middle school math teacher in Grand Rapids Public Schools, has been named the winner of MEA’s 2026 Maurine Wyatt Feminist and Gender Equity Award. Winston’s lengthy and impressive resume includes advocating for students — including girls seeking futures in STEM — as chair of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI-STEM Advisory Council. She was also named a regional semi-finalist…

Retired Ann Arbor special education teacher Kathy Kosobud has been named the winner of MEA’s 2026 David McMahon Human Rights Award. Initially, Kosobud set out toward a career in theater design, but after college, she shifted to education and applied her manual arts skills in pre-vocational settings for children with disabilities, spending many years as a special education teacher in…

A longtime advocate for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ students and educators, Carman-Ainsworth teacher Frank Burger has been named the first recipient of MEA’s new Gerry Crane Human and Civil Rights Award. A 28-year educator in the Flint-area Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools, Burger advises Carman-Ainsworth’s Prism Club, a place for LGBTQ students to come together for support and to plan…

Clarkston Community Schools teacher Daniel Clason has received the 2026 MEA Educational Excellence Award for his instructional leadership and creativity as an eighth and ninth-grade history teacher at Clarkston Junior High School. A Michigan native who taught in Mississippi and Texas before coming to Clarkston in 2022, Clason embraces project-based learning, helping to run projects that include “Constitution Fashion Shows,”…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (May 20, 2026) Contact: Matt Hamilton • matthamilton@ejps.org • 616-916-6569 For 18 years, Shoe Club Nation lived in a single Michigan middle school classroom. This past school year, it lived in four. Today, founder Matt Hamilton announced that the program will expand to ten additional Michigan schools for the 2026-27 academic year, on the strength of a…

The Michigan Education Association announced the recipients of the 2026 MEA Scholarship on Monday, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who will be attending a Michigan public university in the fall. The MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees selected 24 new award recipients, each receiving $2,000. In addition, 22 already enrolled in college will each receive $1,000. “We are…

MEA’s Statewide Screening and Recommendation Committee, comprised of everyday educators from across Michigan, met on Saturday, May 9 to interview candidates for governor and then discuss potentially recommending a candidate for the gubernatorial election. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson accepted MEA’s invitation to participate in our member-driven screening and…

By Chandra Madafferi, President & CEO of the Michigan Education Association Close your eyes and imagine an elementary school teacher. The chances are good that you pictured a woman. You can’t be blamed for that assumption, as preK-12 education is one of the least gender-diverse professions around. Men make up less than 24% of total teachers in Michigan, according to…

The Michigan Education Association announced Monday the following recommendations of candidates for Michigan Congressional districts: 1st District: Callie Barr 3rd District: Rep. Hillary Scholten 4th District: State Sen. Sean McCann 6th District: Rep. Debbie Dingell 7th District: Bridget Brink 8th District: Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet 10th District: Tim Greimel 11th District: State Sen. Jeremy Moss 12th District: Rep. Rashida Tlaib 13th…

The Michigan Education Association is praising the state Senate’s 2026-27 education budget proposal, saying it prioritizes and protects students in the wake of widespread federal cuts. “For the sake of our students and their future, state lawmakers must work together to ensure local schools have adequate, stable funding,” said MEA President and CEO Chandra Madafferi, a teacher from Oakland County.…