Newsroom

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Linda Key For MEA member Linda Key and many others in Rochester, local school board meetings have become “frustrating and exhausting” since 2022 when two candidates endorsed by the far-right political group Moms for Liberty were elected to the board. Now the seat occupied by one of those two trustees – Andrew Weaver, who…

The Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest school employee union, is proud to announce the hiring of Erik Edoff as its new senior executive director. Following a national search, MEA selected Edoff – who currently serves as Superintendent of L’Anse Creuse Public Schools – for its top staff position, providing executive leadership for MEA, MESSA and MEA Financial Services. “Erik…

By Chandra Madafferi, MEA President and CEO With last week’s passage of the state’s new education budget, Michigan families and educators have cause to celebrate — and legislators have some work yet to do when they return to the Capitol. First, the good news. To help address the shortage of qualified teachers and school support staff affecting schools across the…

Michigan schools face a critical deadline with only three months remaining to use $650 million in remaining ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds to address the evolving educational challenges brought on by the pandemic. The deadline for spending these funds is September 30, 2024. A total of $5.63 billion was received by Michigan schools, with the largest allocation…

EAST LANSING — The following is a statement from MEA President and CEO Chandra Madafferi regarding the Michigan Legislature’s passage of the 2024-25 School Aid budget: “More than 100,000 school employees across Michigan will get a much-needed 3% of their salaries back in their pockets, and school districts will receive an average $250 per-pupil increase to help students learn, thanks…

U.S. Navy seaman Auvergne Breault EAST LANSING – U.S. Navy seaman Auvergne Breault was just 20 when he was struck by a giant mortar that knocked him off his boat, leading to his drowning death, during the June 6, 1944, allied forces invasion of Normandy, France, known as D-Day. Thanks to Rochester social studies teacher and MEA member Matt Cottone…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor "Grow Where Planted," a self-portrait in colored pencil by MEA member Amber Thompson, won Best in Show in the 60th Annual MEA-MAEA Art Acquisition Purchase Exhibition. Thompson is an art teacher in Genesee County's LakeVille Community Schools. The self-portrait in colored-pencil that MEA member Amber Thompson entered into this year’s 60th Annual MEA-MAEA Art…

As Michigan’s budget process enters the final stretch, lawmakers must maintain our state’s momentum by passing an education budget that prioritizes increasing educator compensation so we can provide every student with trained, qualified and caring school employees. Thanks to the bipartisan support from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature, Michigan has passed record levels of funding for school districts in…

EAST LANSING — The Michigan Education Association announced the recipients of the 2024 MEA Scholarships on Tuesday, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who will attend a Michigan public university this fall. Among the 357 applications submitted for scholarship awards this year, the MEA Scholarship Fund trustees chose 26 new awardees, who will each receive $1,800. In…

Students created a human circuit with electrosticks by holding hands. When Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding became available in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Portage Public Schools educators embraced the opportunity to bolster student interest in the wonders of flight, science and technology. The Portage educators planned to apply the federal funding, made possible by President…