MEA Votes

For too long, politicians in Lansing have been sacrificing our children's education and future with harmful cuts while leaving plenty of loopholes and ineffective tax loophole programs in place. MEA has been continually calling for an end to these wasteful programs and an independent study just released shows which are effective are which are not.

From MEA's release -

Tired of defending your job, pay, and benefits from lawmakers in Lansing, most of whom have never stood in your shoes?

We know how hard you work, how many sacrifices you've had to make just to keep doing the same job you've been doing, and how you've continually been asked to so much more with so much less, whether it's driving the bus, serving the lunches in the cafeteria, running the school office, teaching the kids, or making sure buildings and classrooms are safe and clean learning environments for all.

School employees have given almost $1 billion over the past three years in salary and health insurance concessions. You pay hundreds – if not thousands – out of pocket every year for basic instruction supplies. You fund your continuing education and training to keep your skills sharp for your students. You work with increasing class sizes and decreasing resources. The vast majority of you pay into your retirement system and pay out of pocket for your health benefits.

Apparently, your bosses – or at least their statewide organizations – don’t care.

Yesterday, the “SOS: Save our Students, Schools, State” campaign, a group of school management organizations, released its reform agenda. While MEA agrees with their central premise that our school funding system is broken and needs to be overhauled, that’s where our agreement ends. SOS has apparently chosen to ignore the sacrifices made by its own employees by insisting that even more be taken out of your hides.

Three gubernatorial hopefuls mingled with MEA members at a Detroit reception Friday, part of MEA's Bargaining/Political Action/Public Relations Conference.

Announced candidates for statewide office were invited to the reception, which featured brief question-and-answer sessions with individuals running for some posts, including attorney general and secretary of state. Several hundred education employees attended, too.

"It is important that we as school employees make our voices heard in the political process," MEA President Iris K. Salters told the crowd.

If Gov. Granholm hadn’t been wearing a different suit, one could easily have thought tonight’s State of the State address was a replay of her past 7 annual speeches.

Act with urgency. Create jobs. Cut the budget. Give more tax breaks.

It didn’t work the first seven times. And it’s not going to work this year. It’s like we’re living the same nightmare over and over again.

Do you ever feel like you’re reliving the same budget crisis over and over and over again.

Well...you are.

In honor of Groundhog Day, please enjoy this trip down memory lane – seems not much has changed in the past three years...

On Friday, Gov. Granholm apparently signed up for the “Take It Out On The Public Employees Club,” joining its ranks alongside Sen. Bishop and Speaker Dillon. Her assault on public employee retirement is another chapter in what is becoming a very long and boring book – especially for Michigan voters who are sick of budget games and gimmicks.

In her column in today's Detroit News, MEA President Iris K. Salters laments that the state's Race to the Top application failed to seize the opportunity to enact real, research-tested reforms like small class sizes and early childhood education. Instead, Michigan's plan was crafted "with political objectives instead of educational goals and without regard for strategies proven to help struggling schools."

Yesterday we discussed how the Michigan Department of Education was forcing school districts and their local unions to commit to participating in the Race to the Top program by rushing into essentially blank contracts, causing serious risk to not only district and the employees, but also to our children.

Imagine this: your boss hands you a contract to sign, and that contract will dictate the next couple years of your career, if you still have one. And did we mention that contract was blank? Would you still sign it??

Chances are you wouldn't. It wouldn't make sense, particularly if you have a family depending on your paycheck to keep a roof overhead, the lights turned on and food on the table. In times like these, there are few Michigan families who aren't in that position.