Bay City Education Association

Since Governor Granholm announced her plans for "reforming" the retirement plan of public school employees, speculation has run rampant as to what exactly her plans are. Newspapers and others have provided their take on what they believe might be included and the impact it will have - but the fact is no one knows for sure.

A great deal has been reported about the situation at Central Falls High School. The Superintendent of Schools has issued 88 termination letters at the high school - firing the entire teacher faculty - a move that is unprecedented in the United States and that threatens students just as they're showing improvement.

We felt it was important to get the rest of the story out regarding this unfortunate and unnecessary proposal.

* The Central Falls Teachers Union and the teachers at the High School said YES to the proposed transformation reform model at the High School.
* They said YES to meeting and working out the details through their collective bargaining agreement, as recommended by the Rhode Island Department of Education.
* They have a long history of saying YES to reform efforts to help students at the High School.
* YES to schedule changes that benefited students
* YES to working with administrators to develop a new, rigorous, teacher evaluation system

By Andrew Dodson | The Bay City Times
February 11, 2010, 9:16AM

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is dangling a retirement carrot in front of long-time teachers, asking them to retire at the end of the school year.

And local union leaders are calling it unfair.

The state’s retirement-enticement proposal could save Michigan up to $450 million, but the largest teacher’s union, the Michigan Education Association, and leaders from the Bay City Education Association say she is trying to take away their members’ promised benefits.

The call for action came on Groundhog Day – a human-size groundhog emphasized the need to end our recurring budget nightmare as it unveiled a new video to raise awareness about Michigan’s structural deficit and broken tax structure.

Tell Governor and Legislature to implement real reforms, not more gimmicks

Despite constant polling results that say the public wants a balanced solution to the state budget crisis, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is joining the chorus of short-sighted politicians in Lansing calling for more cuts targeted at public employees and their families.

Coalition proposes real solutions to state budget crisis

MEA is one of more than 30 groups that are joining to advocate for real solutions to Michigan's budget crisis. Rather than more of the Senate Republicans' cuts-only mentality, "A Better Michigan Future" is a campaign for a balanced approach to putting Michigan's fiscal house in order.

January 12, 2010

Fellow proud MEA members,

Due to many factors which I’ll lay out below, MEA’s final decision is that we cannot recommend to our local association presidents that they sign memorandums of understanding that commit their members to implementing the state’s incomplete and flawed Race to the Top plan.

December 7, 2009
Black and white versus shades of gray. Often things that seem very clear become cloudy when scrutinized carefully. That is especially true when it comes to so-called school reform – when examined through the lens of education research and practice, changes that seem simple become very complex.