Organizing

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor A high school special education teacher in Farmington, Chris DeYonke (center) received the Paul Blewett Friend of Education Award earlier this month at the MEA Representative Assembly. A few years into his role as president of the Farmington Education Association (FEA), Chris DeYonke was marking member information in a spreadsheet when he stumbled across…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor In her nearly 14 years as president of the Clawson Education Association, Kelly Pearson has not bargained a better contract than the one she recently signed. Overwhelmingly approved by membership, the deal struck different responses between early-career and longer-term educators. “Overall, people were happy,” Pearson said of reactions during a meeting to review the…

Retired middle school science teacher Isabell Nazar of Homer, a board member of MEA-Retired, testified before the Legislature in support of eliminating the retirement tax. Retired educator Isabell Nazar could not mathematically pinpoint the positive effects of a new law that will save her pension from being taxed; instead the former 38-year middle school science teacher from rural Homer in…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor “Wonderful news!” “Here’s why we work hard to elect legislators who support public education.” “Elections matter!” “Let’s keep going!” Hundreds of similar comments and shares on MEA’s social media echoed in celebration after the Michigan Legislature approved changes to the state’s broken teacher evaluation system starting next school year. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the…

Spanish teacher Robert Fenton feels validated by a strong new contract in Flint’s Beecher schools. Soon after teachers in Flint’s Beecher Community School District settled a strong contract, staff at the combined middle/high school enjoyed a visit by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on her back-to-school tour – joined by NEA President Becky Pringle and MEA President Chandra Madafferi. After a decade…

Taking notes after the first bargaining session, (left to right) MEA’s Jimalatice Thomas‑Gilbert, Wendy Robledo‑Castillo, Nicole Litteral, Linda Cobb, Suzi Sanchez‑Honkala, Christina Cobb, Kelly Chessor. Just two years ago, the MEA unit representing 11 office clerical workers in Grosse Ile Township Schools consisted of one member. The group was working without a contract, and the unit faced decertification for low…

Three secretaries and a band director in Rochester found some closure in bringing complaints and publicly testifying against a school board trustee whose social media post and television news appearances sparked a deluge of vile, threatening phone calls to Hart Middle School. Amy Rever-Oberle With the help of their union, the educators bravely shared their experiences in an unusual open…

UPDATE: The House Labor Committee passed House Bills 4354-4357 on Thursday, May 25. The legislation will now proceed to the full House for consideration, likely in June. In the early hours of Thursday morning, over a dozen MEA members from across the state made the drive to Lansing to make their voices heard in the Michigan House Labor Committee in…

Last fall when Kalamazoo Education Association President Heather Reid saw an ad announcing the Bored Teachers Comedy Tour was coming to town, she applied for a small MEA grant to hold a members event before the show. Soon she heard staff in the local MEA office discussing the same idea, so they all joined forces and created a mega-event for…

Amy Rever-Oberle When MEA member Amy Rever-Oberle experienced a mishap on a field trip with 150 sixth-grade band students and 30 adult chaperones from Rochester Community Schools, she handled it, got everyone back to school early, and let administration know what happened. Over the next few days, the principal responded to a few parent questions, and life moved on. But…