Legislation

UPDATE – June 15: The Senate took quick action this morning, unanimously passing a substitute version of HB 4421 that primarily does what we’ve been requesting for months – send federal COVID relief funding owed to districts immediately.  This is a BIG win for Michigan schools – if the House concurs with the Senate’s version of HB 4421, more than $4 billion in…

EAST LANSING — The following statement can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart in response to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposals for how to use additional state revenue to fund public education: “Gov. Whitmer’s recommendations are in line with the new MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery, which heeded the voices of frontline educators about what’s needed to help students continue…

State economic experts agreed last Friday that tax revenue is stronger now than previously anticipated – to the tune of $2 billion more for this year and $1.5 billion next year.  That’s in addition to federal pandemic relief funding from the American Rescue Plan, which totals more than $4 billion for public education alone. This news should prompt budget action…

On Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel led a coalition of 23 attorneys general from across the country urging the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to reinstate and expand 2014 guidance designed to help public schools meet their obligations under federal law to administer student discipline equitably. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S.…

Educators on our Legislation Commission and Board of Directors work every two years to ensure our Legislative Priorities reflect MEA’s values. Among the values embraced in this guiding document, amended and adopted this spring, is language advocating for the rights of ALL students and educators – and opposing bills like SB 218 that attack transgender equality. The bill, introduced by…

The Senate Education & Workforce Committee announced late Tuesday that it would take up a revised version of SB 265 at a hearing today, considering new language that would delay the implementation of third-grade reading retention – only to have it apply to BOTH 3rd and 4th graders next year. The originally introduced version of SB 265 would have simply…

Watching the videos of educators talking about the educator shortage on www.MichiganEducatorProject.org, it’s readily apparent that solutions to this crisis won’t come quickly, simply or cheaply. For proof, look no further than the recently introduced Senate Bill 418, which would grant two years of school employee retirement service credit for each year worked during this pandemic. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Curtis…

Tuesday marked the beginning of key legislative movement in the State Legislature on both distribution of much-needed federal COVID relief funding and the annual education budgets for the 2021-22 school year. Relief Funding The House passed HB 4421, which appropriated the remaining ESSER 2 ($841 million from December) and all the ESSER 3 ($3.3 billion from this spring’s American Rescue Plan)…

Every year at this time, talk of the state budget in Michigan can be confusing because of competing spending plans that must get negotiated. However, this year’s discussions about education funding have added complexity from various federal COVID relief acts for responding to the public health crisis. Also complicating the conversation is the fact that Republican leaders in the House…

MEA launches MiSchoolRelief.com to lookup federal funds pending by school district, contact lawmakers urging immediate distribution EAST LANSING — The following statement can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart on the House Republican proposal in this morning’s Appropriations Committee meeting to tie further COVID relief funds to a demand for 20 hours per week of in-person learning options in…