Bay City Education Association

Lansing Schools would get a $118 per pupil cut under the state school aid budget approved by the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, along with reduced budgets for the departments of Community Health and Natural Resources and Environment.

The Senate this week completed first draft budgets for seven state
departments, including higher education, community colleges, Corrections and the Department of Education it passed Tuesday.

Both the House and Senate are racing to complete initial drafts of the
budget before their spring break starts Monday. Once comple ted, they

MEA President Iris K. Salters asked members of the State Board of Education on Tuesday for help in fixing Michigan’s broken education funding system.

“We believe that every student in Michigan deserves a great public education and we have a vested interest in ensuring that our schools excel at providing that in a sustainable way for generations to come,” Salters said.

Good morning.

Thank you for the opportunity to come before you today to share ideas about the kind of reforms that will truly benefit Michigan students.

Like you, the 155,000 members of the Michigan Education Association care deeply about the future of our schools. We believe that every student in Michigan deserves a great public education and we have a vested interest in ensuring that our schools excel at providing that in a sustainable way for generations to come.

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.

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.

By Julie Mack | Kalamazoo Gazette
October 12, 2009, 11:00PM
Last week, I blogged about a Mackinac Center report that suggested Michigan schools could solve their budget problems by pulling Michigan teacher salaries in line with the national average. I questioned the numbers on that report, which launched an online debate about the trends in Michigan teacher pay. (Scroll down to see the original item.)