For mandated reporters, it can be difficult to call and make a report of suspected abuse or neglect knowing it could take up to 30 minutes or more to complete the process by phone. Thanks to a new online program, those reports can now be completed online. If you are a mandated reporter, please register…
DetailsGov. Gretchen Whitmer today followed through on her pledge to elevate the voices of educators in her administration with the announcement of a new 15-member Educator Advisory Council, which will begin taking applications immediately. The Educator Advisory Council will be responsible for: Identifying and analyzing issues impacting the effectiveness of Michigan’s public education system; Identifying…
DetailsEAST LANSING – On Thursday, MEA President Paula Herbart praised Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for issuing Executive Order 2019-9 creating the Educator Advisory Council within the Department of Education. The 15-member council will be composed of a broad cross-section of Michigan educators, including teachers, administrators, counselors, specialists, and support staff. The new Educator Advisory Council will…
DetailsThe House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday amended legislation providing additional snow days for schools due to this year’s extreme weather, sending the bill to the House floor for consideration. HB 4206, which would permanently waive days that schools are closed during a state of emergency declared by the governor, passed out of the…
DetailsOn Wednesday, the State Senate unanimously passed SB 122, which delays for one year the implementation of an increase in the percentage of teacher evaluation based on student growth data. Along with companion legislation – SB 202 , which does the same for administrator evaluation – the bill would mean that the percentage would remain…
DetailsIn more than a dozen stops around the state throughout March, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited classrooms to read with young people. At every point along the way, she also spoke with adults – educators, administrators, parents – to sell her proposal for reinvesting in the state. She had to make difficult choices in writing a…
DetailsOnly 25 percent of all Michigan educators – and just 20 percent of teachers – would recommend a career in education to a young person they know, according to results released Wednesday from a statewide educator survey conducted last month. Factors that most negatively affect Michigan educators’ professional satisfaction include lack of support from policymakers…
DetailsMEA member Marti Alvarez makes a distinction between her job at Traverse City Area Public Schools and her reason for being. She is employed as a bus driver, but she is driven by a goal to help students be successful human beings – a message she spreads to colleagues doing every type of work in…
DetailsYvonne Williams wants MEA’s Education Support Professionals to banish a word from their vocabulary: “Justa.” “It would not be unusual to hear one of our colleagues say I am justa bus driver, I’m justa secretary or I’m justa custodian,” the recently retired MEA Northern Zone Director told attendees at the ESP Statewide Conference in Port…
DetailsThis year’s winner of “Best in Show” at the 55th Annual MEA/MAEA Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition is an artist and teacher who exemplifies the circle of life in education. Josh Gove, a first-year elementary art teacher in St. Johns, says he credits skilled and encouraging educators from his youth for his love of art and…
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