Here’s what accountability should look like for Michigan schools
By Chandra Madafferi, Michigan Education Association President and CEO
After serving in the role of MEA president and CEO for two full school years, I’ve witnessed the best of what Michigan’s public schools can offer — students engaged in meaningful learning, educators energized by their work, parents actively involved and communities that truly support their schools.
I’ve also seen the other side: communities grappling with hardship, students chronically absent, classrooms led by a revolving door of substitutes, and, in some cases, local school boards so consumed by political agendas that they spark debates over banning books like The Diary of Anne Frank. (For the record, I believe if my mom read it in school in the early 1960s, it’s safe to say it should be grandfathered in.)
These moments of tension lead to a troubling cycle where people point fingers and weaponize the word “accountability” to assign blame. At its core, accountability means making sure everyone is doing their part to help students reach their full potential. That includes educators, administrators, lawmakers, school boards, families, and, yes, students themselves.
Educators are not afraid of accountability — we embrace it when it’s tied to student learning. What we reject is the outdated “test-and-punish” model, which penalizes those educators who choose to serve the most vulnerable students. Such models, which often rely on an oversimplistic A-F grading system, ignore root causes that can dramatically impact student performance, such as poverty, underfunding, trauma, lack of internet access, and the absence of basic resources at home. Whether it’s a child spending hours at a time looking at screens or not having anyone to read with them at night, every factor matters. And when those factors remain unaddressed, no amount of test-and-punish accountability measures will fix it.
Our education system needs a reset. Teachers — those in classrooms every day — have known this for years. We must ensure that new educators, whether from traditional teacher preparation programs or alternative pathways, are well-prepared and supported with strong mentoring. We need school leaders who are not just administrators but experienced educators themselves, and who are capable of leading instruction and giving meaningful feedback.
Districts must invest the resources they receive — not stockpile them — into smaller class sizes, a rich array of course offerings, and the support staff that students depend on. Educators deserve wages that not only retain them but also attract the best and brightest to the profession. Every high school graduating class holds the potential for future teachers; our job is to inspire them.
At the Michigan Education Association, we are fierce advocates for the support and resources that students and educators need to thrive. We believe in elevating the profession, ensuring the right people are in the right roles, and creating structures that support student learning.
If we’re serious about improving outcomes, we must ensure that every level of the system — governance included — is held to a standard of service and effectiveness. Greater alignment between the Michigan Department of Education, intermediate school districts and local districts can lead to stronger governance, better efficiencies, and more impactful use of resources.
We’re ready to talk about accountability on terms that reflect the complexity of education. That means starting with system-wide implementation of what works: innovative teaching methods, student-centered strategies, and field-tested solutions that are already delivering results in Michigan and around the world.
Accountability isn’t a threat. It’s a shared responsibility — and it’s time we all lived up to it.
Labor Voices
Labor Voices columns are written on a rotating basis by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, Michigan Education Association President Chandra Madafferi, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights Executive Secretary-Treasurer Tom Lutz and selected Service Employees International Union members.
