Legislation

The following statement can be attributed to MEA President & CEO Chandra Madafferi and AFT Michigan President Terrence Martin regarding ongoing education budget discussions in Lansing: Michigan students and the educators who serve them every day deserve a budget that invests in their success. Lawmakers shouldn't settle for an education budget that doesn’t invest every dollar possible toward providing every…

This week, the U.S. Senate narrowly passed (thanks to Vice President Vance’s tie-breaking vote) a dangerous budget reconciliation bill that provides tax breaks for billionaires at the expense of health care, food assistance and education programs for working families. The bill now returns to the U.S. House, where your representative’s vote will help determine the ultimate outcome. Among the major…

On Wednesday, June 11, House Republicans introduced – and then swiftly passed – an education budget for 2025-26 that harms students' opportunities to get the education and skills they need to land good-paying careers after graduation. This budget guts programs and services that students and families rely on, including: Career and technical courses that prepare students for good paying jobs…

Congress is considering a dangerous budget proposal that includes a $20 billion federal school voucher scheme, which would drain critical resources from neighborhood public schools and funnel taxpayer dollars to for-profit private schools elsewhere. To add insult to injury, the budget proposal would make huge cuts to Medicaid for families and children across Michigan, causing further harm to low-income students,…

EAST LANSING – A new report issued today by the National Education Association underscores the importance of improving compensation for educators – something the state Senate’s proposed education budget takes seriously, as highlighted in its presentation today. Michigan is lagging behind other states when it comes to paying educators competitive wages, leading to educator shortages affecting schools and students across…

UPDATE 4/2: In response to the Senate's legal action, the Court of Claims judge said that she would not issue a ruling but instead urged the Supreme Court to accept the bypass application to issue a final ruling in the matter. The Supreme Court denied the bypass application but has ordered the Court of Appeals to expedite their consideration of…

Within minutes of being unveiled last week, House Republicans passed a budget proposal that would cut $5 billion from public education – a loss of almost 25% compared to the current year. According to House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp), the bill is meant to keep essential services going during a potential state government shutdown – but Senate Majority Leader…

On March 12, House Republicans passed a resolution stating they would not present Gov. Whitmer with nine bills being held from December’s “lame duck” session – including HB 6058, which would lower skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs for public employee health insurance. At the same time, under the leadership of Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp), the House GOP caucus appealed a judge’s…

On Tuesday, March 4, join educators across Michigan in wearing #RedForEd as part of the national Protect Our Kids Day of Action. Help raise awareness about the importance of federal education funding for our students amid efforts to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. A collaborative effort between NEA, AFT, AROS, Mom’s Rising and the Working Families Party, the goal…

On Thursday, the state Senate was victorious in their lawsuit against the House to compel the presentation of bills being held back from the governor – including HB 6058, which works to reduce skyrocketing out-of-pocket health insurance costs for educators and other public employees. Court of Appeals Judge Sima Patel ruled in favor of Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and the Michigan…