Tag Archives | MEA

UPDATED: Education supporters plan huge grassroots rally at Mich Capitol June 19th, teacher unions & media confused

By on June 11, 2013 in Education, Events, Media, Teachers

Grassroots power in action!

NOTE: This post has been updated. See below.

A little under two weeks ago, my pals that run the Facebook page Save Michigan’s Public Schools announced a rally to support education and teachers in Michigan. Their page is the premier online resource for all things education in our state. It was started by Ann Arbor educator Rochelle Noel and former state House candidate from Traverse City Betsy Coffia. Being grassroots organizers in the most basic definition of the word “grassroots”, Rochelle and Betsy and their passionate team of volunteers chose to pull off their June 19th rally on their own without reaching out to the two biggest unions in Michigan, the Michigan Education Association (MEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).…


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AG Schuette is denied, lawsuit challenging Michigan’s Right to Work law goes forward

By on April 4, 2013 in Labor

Michigan citizens: 1, Attorney General Bill Schuette: 0

Back in January, I wrote about a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the MEA, the AFL-CIO and others that challenged Michigan’s Right to Work law since it was passed in violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act. Because Republicans locked citizens (and Democratic lawmakers) out of the building during the vote, the plaintiffs say the law should be invalidated.

This could be a HUGE deal because Republicans passed the legislation by a margin that was larger than than the margin they hold in the House after last November’s election. They would be forced to bring more of their GOP caucus over to vote yes on this legislation which may be difficult do, politically speaking.

Yesterday, Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette overruled a request by Attorney General Bill Schuette to throw the case out of court.

Details after the jump.


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Michigan Gov Rick Snyder to make another fake concession, this time on school funding

By on January 20, 2012 in Education, Rick Snyder

Rick Snyder is the master of the “fake concession”. He takes money away from something, gives a little back and then paints it as a “concession”. It’s not.

He did it on the Earned Income Tax credit in late April:

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s proposed budget eliminates the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which helps the working poor, especially those with kids.

In a dramatic concession, he’s agreed to give qualifying families $25 per child . This represents 5.8% of the EITC the average family would have received.

He will now tell everyone he made a concession. But, if his budget passes in May as it most likely will, he will have actually slashed an important bit of assistance for many poor Michiganders with families by 94.2%.

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Will new Mich House Education chair Tom McMillin work with Mackinac Center to destroy the MEA? – UPDATED

By on November 28, 2011 in Uncategorized

With the ouster of Republican Paul Scott in a recall election earlier this month, Michigan Republicans chose a man considered “one of the most conservative members of the House Republican Caucus” to take his place on the House Education Committee, Tom McMillin. This retaliatory choice was predictable (and predicted). Rick Pluta of Michigan Public Radio described it as “a horse head in the MEA’s bed” a la The Godfather.

“If you didn’t like Representative Paul Scott, and what he stood for, and what he was trying to do, [then] State Representative Tom McMillin might give you something to cry about,” explains Rick Pluta, Lansing Bureau Chief for the Michigan Public Radio Network.…

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MEA steps up to help Benton Harbor schools with massive donation of supplies

By on November 23, 2011 in Benton Harbor, Education, Emergency Managers, Teachers

While state officials mull over appointing an Emergency Manager for Benton Harbor schools, the state’s largest teachers union, the Michigan Education Association (MEA), has stepped up to help teachers there with much needed supplies. They put out a call to MEA teachers (flyer HERE (pdf)) to make donations and teachers across the state responded.

When Republican lawmakers pushed through more than $1 billion in cuts to public education earlier this year, bad financial situations in school districts across the state were made even worse. A prime example of this is in Benton Harbor, where the cuts have caused an unsustainable lack of basic school supplies across the district.…

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Michigan GOP takes first steps toward eliminating teachers from the classroom

By on November 22, 2011 in Education, Michigan Republicans, Teachers

Republican sponsored legislation, Senate Bill 619 recently passed the Senate. This bill represents what could be the first steps toward eliminating large numbers of teachers from Michigan classrooms.

A proposal in Lansing would remove most restrictions on the ability of students to attend school over the Internet, in their pajamas, without setting foot inside a classroom.

The proposal would remove caps on enrollment in and the number of “cyberschools,” or those in which students learn online through a teacher in another location.

Students either spend a portion or the entire school day learning in front of a computer — an option some lawmakers say expands opportunities for students who learn differently than others.

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Anti-teachers union StudentsFirst wants to “collaborate” with Michigan teachers union

By on November 15, 2011 in Uncategorized

After spending scads of money to defeat the recall of Paul Scott, a recall backed financially by the Michigan Education Association (MEA), Michigan’s teachers union, suddenly Michelle Rhee’s anti-teachers union group StudentsFirst wants to play kissy-face with them. From their recent press release:

StudentsFirst Vice President of Communications Hari Sevugan sent a letter to Michigan Education Association President Steven Cook Tuesday seeking collaboration on improving an anti-bullying bill moving through the Michigan legislature.

The bill is intended to address bullying in Michigan schools, but a Senate amendment to the bill would actually allow bullying based on religious or moral grounds.

StudentsFirst believes that, just as the law would protect a child from being bullied because of the religious beliefs he or she holds, it should also protect a child from bullying that is somehow grounded in someone else’s religious beliefs.

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Yet another boot on the face of Mich teachers – a year in prison for sending emails

By on September 27, 2011 in Education, Michigan, Michigan Republicans, Teachers

You know what I hate? I positively detest the phrase “union thugs” or “union goons”. It implies this organized group of people willing to harm others to make sure they get their way.

When you look at what Republicans are doing to unionized teachers in Michigan, you realize that when Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof says making our state a Right to Teach state is good because it is “an opportunity to let teachers get farther away from union goons”, what you’re seeing is a classic case of transference. They are accusing others of the behavior they themselves are exhibiting.…


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Mich GOP: Automatic deductions for union dues not okay, but for charitable donations, totally okay

By on September 15, 2011 in GOPocrisy, Teachers, unions

The state House passed a bill today that would prohibit schools from deducting union dues from teachers’ paychecks. The bill doesn’t say they don’t have to provide this service, it says they are prohibited from providing this service.

Why? It’s definitely not a cost-saving measure. School administrators agree that the cost to schools for providing this service to teachers is neglible. No, this is simply a way to hurt the teachers’ union. Republican Representative Joe Haveman of Holland puts it this way:

I don’t understand how giving people money back in their paycheck is a bad thing..It makes them more accountable.…

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Anti-teachers union StudentsFirst spent nearly $1 million on Michigan ads so far in 2011

By on September 15, 2011 in Michigan Republicans, Teachers

I have a new piece up at A2Politico where I look at the Michigan Republicans attacks on teachers in our state. I also look at how, although teachers are fighting back, politically-speaking, they are also working hard to make things better for our schools, particularly the ones facing the biggest challenges.

Teachers unions are also working to help poorly-performing districts improve their programs. Last year, the National Education Association (NEA) started the Priority Schools Campaign. This campaign aims to bring all education stakeholders together to help failing schools.

Through our Priority Schools Campaign, we’re promoting increased professionalism and systemic education reform in some of the nation’s lowest-performing schools; what we call priority schools.

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