By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor During college, MEA member Anthony Pennock worried about whether he could ever be accepted as a gay man in the classroom. Now the sixth-year special education teacher is co-chair of MEA’s new LGBTQ Caucus. Pennock believes in “the power of one.” One teacher. One counselor. One bus driver. One […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Eric Curtiss thought he had a high number of students in his English classes last year when his numbers topped out at 144. This year he has 168, although the number fluctuates. Last year he had five preps, the most in his 22-year career. Now he has […]
More than 450 educators from Capitol‑area school districts stretching from St. Johns to Holt, Okemos and Lansing returned to their school duties armed with some health and safety essentials courtesy of their local unions. Every year, several MEA units combine their efforts in a late August back-to-school bash that draws hundreds to a family cookout […]
About 625,000 essential workers who continued performing their frontline duties during the height of the pandemic in Michigan are eligible for free college tuition, under a program announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “This initiative is Michigan’s way of expressing gratitude to essential workers for protecting public health and keeping our state running,” Whitmer said at […]
By Robyne Muray As an historian, I never thought I would witness the life-altering experience of a pandemic. I believed our medical advances made us far more sophisticated than those living through the 1918 flu pandemic. However, persevering through COVID-19 has changed my perspective about who I am and what my professional future holds. Teaching […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Michigan last March, MEA member Chris Thomas found himself in a unique position to help other educators in the district where he worked – Ann Arbor – get up to speed in figuring out how to deliver remote learning. Now he’s doing the same […]
If you are a brand new school employee, or know someone who is, be aware that state law requires newly hired school employees in Michigan to select between two retirement plan choices within 75 days after their first payroll date—or the state will choose for them. And once a selection is made, it can’t be […]
As the federal government continues to push in court for an earlier end date for the U.S. Census, it’s more important than ever for Americans to step forward now and be counted. Educators can play an important role in informing their school families of the importance of the once-a-decade national headcount and encouraging folks to take 10 minutes […]
Under a new state budget adopted by the Legislature on Wednesday, education funding avoided major cuts that had been expected due to the national economic downturn related to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement Wednesday night, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would sign the budget, which passed with bipartisan majorities in both chambers. “When we […]
When MEA member Richard Mui was growing up in Ferndale, not many Asian Americans lived in the community, which he believes accounted for the discrimination he encountered – teasing and racist comments about his perceived culture and language. “I learned to have a tougher skin, but it created an awareness of some injustices that are […]
