Search for Recommended Candidates
Jul 10, 2020
Search for Recommended Candidates, apply to Vote from Home at MEAVotes.org
Now online at www.MEAVotes.org, you can search for MEA recommended candidates in your area and apply for a ballot to Vote From Home – plus give money to MEA-PAC to help elect friends of public education.
The recommended candidate search allows you to enter your address and find a listing of pro-public education candidates, as recommended by MEA members serving on screening & recommending committees. Our full listing of recommended candidates is updated regularly as local S&Rs are finalized throughout the election season.
Also on the site, you can get information to Vote From Home under new Michigan rules. Thousands of members voted absentee for the first time in the March presidential primary and many more will do so for upcoming elections. Join them by applying online or downloading a ballot request form – you can even sign up to get updates about your ballot status from your local clerk, helping you ensure your vote is counted!
As always, www.MEAVotes.org is where MEA members can give online to help MEA-PAC and the NEA Fund elect friends of public education. Dues dollars cannot be contributed to candidates, so we rely on voluntary PAC contributions to ensure we continue the momentum from our 2018 election victories. At the site, you can make a one-time contribution or sign up for recurring monthly contributions
Whitmer Announces Learning Plan
Jul 01, 2020
To safely reopen for in-person learning next fall, schools across the state will be required to enact one of a range of safety plans based on the COVID-19 threat level their particular region is facing at a given time, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Tuesday.
The MI Safe Schools Return to School Roadmap resulted from the work of a 25-person appointed council of education and health practitioners and experts – including MEA President Paula Herbart and other MEA members – to provide minimum steps for districts to use in developing more detailed local plans.
“Nothing is more important than keeping our kids and our educators and all of their families safe,” Whitmer said at an afternoon press conference to release the 63-page plan.
Under the plan, districts must follow certain required protocols but will be allowed to consider whether "strongly recommended" and "recommended" actions are appropriate to local needs and circumstances, Whitmer said after warning: “This virus is very much alive in Michigan.”
The minimum steps outlined in the state plan provide a roadmap back to in-person learning, but things are not “returning to normal,” Herbart said at the press conference.
“It will not be perfect, and there will be curves in the road ahead,” Herbart said. “We owe our students—and the educators who serve them—the greatest measures of clarity and consistency we can manage in an unprecedented situation.”
Importantly – as has been the case throughout the pandemic’s course in Michigan – Whitmer has placed educators’ expertise and voices at the forefront of the state’s plans and responses, Herbart added.
“Educator voices were represented and heard on the Return to Learn Advisory Council—now we need to follow that example and ensure school employees are part of making important health and safety decisions at the local level, as called for in state collective bargaining law,” Herbart said. Read more.
MEA Summer Virtual Conference Free to All Members
Jun 20, 2020
This year’s Summer Conference is unlike others in the past. MEA has decided to make this year’s conference virtual, FREE, and open to ALL MEA-Retired lifetime members if they wish to participate. Lifetime members can attend at no cost and are encouraged register at the link below.
https://www.mea.org/summer-conference/
MEA is pleased to announce the 2020 Virtual MEA Summer Conference – no COVID-19 pandemic can stop us from gathering to get information to both learn and help our union brothers and sisters!
The conference will be held on Wednesday, July 29, and Thursday, July 30, beginning with a message from MEA President Paula Herbart at 10 a.m. There will be a total of 36 session offerings throughout the rest of the day.
Each participant will be required to register online for the conference at MEA.org. There will be no fee for the conference which is only open to MEA Members in Good Standing. It will be important for members to watch for a confirmation email for the conference to confirm their on-line registration was processed all the way through. Participants can sign up for one session in one series, one in multiple series or one in all series.
Further instructions about the platform to use for each session will be distributed to participants the week before the actual conference.
Please help us spread the word about this training and learning opportunity. Registration for the conference will be available beginning Tuesday, June 16, and will close on Friday, July 17
Tell Lawmakers to say YES to Federal Education Help
Jun 10, 2020
View Video https://www.facebook.com/MichiganEducationAssociation/videos/1513818688791201/
Tell lawmakers to say YES to fed education help
Last Friday’s virtual rally – viewed by thousands of people – reinforced the need for federal action to help schools prevent pandemic-driven budget cuts. Watch a new video with highlights from the rally, including supportive comments from U.S. Sen. Gary Peters -- and be sure to contact your members of Congress to urge passage of the $175 billion needed nationally to help public education.
Unfortunately, there are those in the State Legislature who don’t want this much needed federal funding. House Resolution 267, sponsored by 10 Republican lawmakers, advocates against Congressional aid for schools. Take a moment to tell your state representative and state senator to oppose HR 267 and, instead, advocate with Congress for the passage of much needed funding for Michigan students and schools.
Rally (Virtually) for Federal Education Funding this Friday
May 27, 2020
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