Gov. Whitmer took questions submitted by MEA members during a 30-minute virtual election kickoff event last week, many aimed at the prime topic on members’ minds: the educator shortage.

“We want to encourage you to stay in the profession. We need you,” Whitmer said during the Feb. 1 event. “We want to encourage others to pursue this honorable line of work. But you should be able to make a good living doing it.”

Whitmer shared her views on many of the factors driving the educator shortage, including compensation, workloads and a lack of respect for the profession. She also spoke on a variety of other topics, including the impact of COVID-19 on public education, standardized testing, evaluations, retirement and the pension tax. 

Watch the exclusive member event here: