announcements

NEA-RA "Soaring Cost of College Plan"
MEA-Retired members attend the NEA-RA in Houston
MEA-Rired members attend the Michigan Causus at the NEA-RA
MEA-Retired delegate Al Beamish attends his 50th NEA-RA
MEA-Retired Members at the NEA-RA in Houston

MPSERS Fall Education Schedule

Sep 11, 2019

Presentations Learning Center

10:00 am – 10:10 am Introduction 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

10;10 am – 10:40 am Delta Dental Ask specific questions about

10:40 am - 11:05 am Eye Med your coverage and explore

11:05 am - 11:20 am Break online tools and wellness

11:20 am - 11:55 am OptumRx resources available to you.

11:55 am - 12:30 pm Blue Cross * Representative will be available
until all questions are answered
This fall the Michigan Public School Employees' Retirement System (MPSERS) educational seminars schedule have been announced. This is an opportunity for members to learn more about your 2020 retirement system health plan. Each seminar will feature information to help you stay informed and understand your plan, get the most value from your plan, and connect you to helpful tools and resources. Seminars will include presentations about each component of your retirement system health plan. In addition to the presentations, representatives from Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Michigan, Delta Dental®, EyeMed and OptumRx® will be available in the Learning Center to answer specific questions about your coverage. Registration is not required to attend. See the schedule below and choose the seminar that is most convenient for you. This only applies to members who have Blue Cross PPO health insurance.

8-Oct Marquette
Holiday Inn Marquette
1951 US 41 West
Marquette, MI 49855

9-Oct Escanaba
Island Resort & Casino
W399 Highway 2
Harris, MI. 49845

10-Oct Bay Harbor
Great Lakes Center of the Arts
800 Bay Harbor Drive
Bay Harbor, MI. 49770

11-Oct Gaylord
Treetops Resort
3962 Wilkinson Road
Gaylord, MI. 49735

14-Oct Lansing
Eagle Eye Golf Club
15500 Chandler Rd
Bath Twp, MI 48808

15-Oct                  Midland
   Great Hall Banquet Center
  5121 Bay City Road
  Midland, MI 48642

16-Oct Kalamazoo
Delta Hotels Kalamazoo Conference Center
2747 South 11th Street
Kalamazoo, MI. 49009

17-Oct Holland
DoubleTree Holland
650 East 24th Street
Holland, MI. 49423

21-Oct Flint
Holiday Inn Gateway Centre
5353 Gateway Centre
Flint, MI 48507

23-Oct Livonia
Laurel Manor Banquet & Conference Ctr.
39000 Schoolcraft Rd
Livonia, MI 48150

24-Oct Ypsilanti
312 EMU Student Center
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI. 48197

25-Oct Novi
Four Points Novi
27000 South Karevich Drive
Novi, MI. 48377

29-Oct Sterling Heights
Wyndham Garden Sterling Heights
34911 Van Dyke Ave
Sterling Heights, MI. 48312

6-Nov Tucson
Hilton Garden Inn Tucson Airport
6575 S. Country Club Road
Tucson, AZ 85756

7-Nov Scottsdale
DoubleTree Scottsdale-Paradise Valley
5041 N Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale, AZ. 85250

10-Dec Ocala
Holiday Inn & Suites Ocala Conference Center
3600 SW 38th Ave
Ocala, FL. 34474

11-Dec                St. Petersburg
  Holiday Inn St Petersburg-Clearwater Airport
  3535 Ulmerton Road
  Clearwater, FL. 33762

12-Dec Sarasota
Holiday Inn Sarasota Airport
8009 15th St. E.
Sarasota, FL 34243

13-Dec Fort Myers
  Holiday Inn Ft. Myers Airport
  9931 Interstate Commerce Drive
  Fort Myers, FL 33913

Number of Long Term Subs Grows in Michigan

Sep 05, 2019

In case you missed it… Last week Bridge magazine published a series of articles detailing one of the concerning consequences of our state's teaching shortage—uncertified substitute teachers filling long-term and permanent roles in our schools.

Please share this important information with friends, family members, and your community: Our students pay the price for failures of leadership on the issues of teacher retention and recruitment.

According to the analysis of state data from Bridge, last school year more than 2,500 Michigan classrooms were led by long-term substitutes who weren’t certified teachers – a stunning tenfold increase in just five years that threatens to hobble efforts to improve the state’s K-12 public education system.Nu

Last year at one charter school in rural north central Michigan, 44 percent of its teachers were uncertified full- time substitutes — more than the region’s six traditional school districts combined, according to state data.

In this Q&A, the dean of University of Michigan’s School of Education argues the situation should concern everyone in the state.

Whitmer Pushes for Real Budget Solutions at Jackson School Visit

Sep 02, 2019

MEA Capital Comments

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ventured into the Jackson County turf of Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) on Thursday to illustrate the struggles schools are facing without a state budget and press Republican leaders to put real solutions on the table.

At Jackson High School, the school year started with two administrators at the helm instead of the four needed in a building of 1,200 students, Superintendent Jeff Beal said. The district recently hired two new administrators “on good faith,” who won’t start until next month to save money.

“We know we need more boots on the ground to be able to provide for our students, but we delayed that expenditure,” Beal said he told Whitmer.

Superintendents across the county are reporting delayed hiring and technology and equipment purchases based on the uncertainty of operating without knowing how much money will be available, he added.

“We also talked about not messing with pensions,” Beal said. “We’ve got lots of folks who anticipate when they retire that their pension is going to be there for them. I don’t want the government taking out a credit card consolidation loan with our pension money.”

Whitmer has proposed a budget that would tap new revenue for road repairs and produce the largest education spending increase in 24 years, but Republican leaders in the House and Senate have responded with more shell games and half measures, Whitmer said.

According to the capitol news service Gongwer, Shirkey favors a plan to bond and reamortize the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) to pay for road repairs – an idea Whitmer has labeled a non-starter.

She restated her opposition to the “pensions for potholes” scheme on Thursday.

“This is a competitive issue for us as a state, and that’s why I’m determined to get it right and not to take money out of teacher pensions to fill potholes,” she said.

Learn more about the irresponsible “Pensions for Potholes” schemes at www.PensionsForPotholes.com — and contact your lawmakers to oppose them!

Whitmer noted she submitted her budget in March – including $507 million in additional education spending to rebuild student supports, literacy services, and career-technical education, among other initiatives. The Legislature left for the summer in June without approving a spending plan for the first time in nine years — they returned to work this week.

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announcements

NEA-RA "Soaring Cost of College Plan"

MEA-Retired members attend the NEA-RA in Houston

MEA-Rired members attend the Michigan Causus at the NEA-RA

MEA-Retired delegate Al Beamish attends his 50th NEA-RA

MEA-Retired Members at the NEA-RA in Houston