My GHEA Rocks!

In This Issue / May 29, 2013 MEA members successfully push for increased investment in early childhood education Education budgets go to governor's desk for approval Progress Michigan introduces 'Skunk Works' mascot To Mackinac Conference attendees Cook in Detroit News: School employees need seat at the table to help keep schools open MEA staff helps members navigate issues in special education MEA members successfully push for increased investment in early childhood education Thanks to the hard-fought efforts of MEA members, the state Legislature on Wednesday voted to increase the state's investment in early childhood education funding. More than 1,400 MEA members called and emailed their legislators in recent weeks to urge them to support more funding for early childhood education. Because of the outreach conducted by teachers, education support professionals and higher education employees, the Legislature sent an education budget to the governor's desk that includes $65 million in additional funds for early childhood education. "The MEA has long championed greater investment in early childhood education programs, because these investments help prepare our students for success," MEA Vice President Nancy Strachan said. "The additional investment for early childhood education is a critical step to help our low-income students have access to high-quality preschool opportunities and enter kindergarten prepared to learn." "Research has clearly shown the direct correlation between early childhood education programs and increased graduation rates, reduced crime and a healthier economy," Strachan said. "The MEA will continue to support this and other increased early childhood investments so that all Michigan children have the opportunity to succeed."      Education budgets go to governor's desk for approval The House and Senate this week passed education funding bills that provide slight increases for K-12 schools, community colleges and universities - but still fall short of providing proper funding for public education. House Bill 4228, which comprises the School Aid, community colleges and higher education budgets for the 2013-14 Fiscal Year, passed the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. The funding bill now goes to Gov. Rick Snyder's desk for his signature. Click here for an analysis from the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency. K-12 budget The state's lowest-funded districts will see an increase of $60 per pupil, while the wealthiest districts will get a $30 increase. Other districts will receive proportional increase between $30 and $60 per pupil. Higher education Public universities will get a $24.9 million increase in state aid, bringing the total state investment to $1.43 billion. In addition, public universities must cap tuition increases at 3.75 percent or else be ineligible for performance funding. Community colleges House Bill 4228 provides $336 million in state funding for community colleges, giving each of the state's 28 community colleges roughly 2 percent in additional state said. The budget continues the practice of taking money from the School Aid Fund to pay for community colleges; $197.6 million of the community college budget comes from K-12 funds. Progress Michigan introduces 'Skunk Works' mascot To Mackinac Conference attendees Citizens' watchdog group Progress Michigan introduced Pepé Le Voucher, the mascot for Gov. Rick Snyder's secret "Skunk Works" school voucher workgroup, to attendees of the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island on Wednesday. Members of Snyder's administration had been holding secret nighttime meetings with corporations to develop a school voucher plan for Michigan. The group purposefully excluded educators from its discussions, which centered on weakening public education for the benefit of the information technology corporations that would step in to "rescue" schools and make huge profits. Pepé passed out "privatization stinks" air fresheners to Lansing insiders as they landed via ferry onto the island. Progress Michigan and others are encouraging the governor to stop his secret work groups and clear the air by increasing transparency in state government. Read more. Cook in Detroit News: School employees need seat at the table to help keep schools open In a column published Wednesday in the Detroit News, MEA President Steve Cook called on state and local leaders to bring school employees to the table to help find solutions to the problems facing local school districts. "I think we can all agree that something is very wrong when any public school suddenly finds it does not have the funds necessary to finish the year or has to eliminate a large part of its educational offerings for the next year," Cook wrote. "That's exactly what happened this month in the Buena Vista School District and Albion Public Schools, and almost happened in the Pontiac School District. It causes one to wonder, what district is next?" "Districts are clearly in a crisis situation when they must decide to eliminate quality programming or close their doors before the school year ends. These crises must be dealt with through the involvement of all affected parties." Click here to read Cook's full column. MEA staff helps members navigate issues in special education It's an unconscionable stain on our nation's history: Fewer than 40 years ago, many states had laws that actually forbid special needs students from attending public schools, including students who were deaf, blind or had developmental disabilities. Until the Congress passed the first version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, American public schools accommodated only 20 percent of these children with disabilities. About 1 million children with special needs had absolutely no access to public schools. An additional 3.5 million special needs children were "warehoused" out of sight of the general population, according to the National Council on Disability. Thanks to progress made by educators and disability rights advocates, times have changed. More than 6 million students now receive public education through IDEA, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities. That includes more than 222,000 special needs students in Michigan. With greater access to special education comes a greater need for teachers and education support staff to be properly trained in special education issues. That's why MEA provides assistance to members in addressing specific questions related to special education rules and services, including topics involving IDEA and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) rights. In addition to working with members on federal and state compliance, MEA provides training to both EA members and ESP members on special education issues as they arise on a case-by-case basis. To learn more about special education training, contact Marty Lankford of the MEA's Professional Development and Human Rights Department at (800) 292-1934 ext. 5479, or email him at MLankford@mea.org.            In This Issue / May 28, 2013 Michigan Teacher of the Year awarded to Grosse Pointe North High School science teacher Saginaw Township school employees lend aid to Buena Vista teachers Michelle Rhee to headline Mackinac Policy Conference  MEA staff helps members navigate issues in special education  Log in to mea.org to update your info  Michigan Teacher of the Year awarded to Grosse Pointe North High School science teacher Grosse Pointe North High School science teacher Gary Abud Jr. has been named the 2013-14 Michigan Teacher of the Year by the state Department of Education. Abud, who received the 2012 Science Teacher of Promise award from the Michigan Science Teachers Association, is a proponent of project-based learning, combining service experiences, digital learning and social media to provide his students with a broad palette of learning experiences. "It has been my philosophy that all students can learn and achieve in the classroom," Abud said. "Finding the right combination of strategies to match various learning styles is essential." Grosse Pointe Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Harwood said Abud is "a teacher amongst teachers; an innovator of instruction, a supportive guide of knowledge, and a creator of dreams for students who wish to further explore their understanding of science." Read more. Saginaw Township school employees lend aid to Buena Vista teachers Saginaw Township school employees raised about $1,200 to help teachers in the Buena Vista School District, who haven't been paid since May 10. Each Buena Vista teacher received a white envelope on Friday with a $45 gift card to Meijer, courtesy of members of the Saginaw Township Education Association, who paid for the gift cards out of their own pockets. The Buena Vista School District did not pay its teachers Friday - a pay day - despite the state of Michigan's sending over $400,000 to the struggling district to keep it open for the remainder of the school year. "We just felt like we wanted to help the teachers at Buena Vista, and we were heartbroken to hear they might not be getting all of the pay they earned," said Peter Tyson, president of the Saginaw Township EA. "We knew this was not the fault of the teachers or the students, but yet they were the ones who were paying the price for the financial mismanagement of Buena Vista schools. We also did not think that Lansing would do anything to help the teachers and students, so we wanted to show them that people in the area did care about what was going on in Buena Vista." Buena Vista EA President Joe Ann Nash told the Saginaw News the donations were "amazing," and offered a thank you to her colleagues in Saginaw Township. "We appreciate this from the bottom of our hearts," she said. Michelle Rhee to headline Mackinac Policy Conference So-called school "reformer" Michelle Rhee will headline the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's Mackinac Policy Conference, held Wednesday through Friday on Mackinac Island. Rhee is the founder of StudentsFirst, a fast-growing lobbying organization that aims to turn neighborhood public schools over to private, for-profit corporations. Launched by Rhee in 2010 after she resigned as chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, StudentsFirst has spent millions of dollars in Michigan alone to lobby state lawmakers. The group is pushing for a number of policy changes that would weaken traditional public schools and strip away school employees' collective bargaining rights - thus allowing private companies to come in and "fix" the school system. Read more. MEA staff helps members navigate issues in special education It's an unconscionable stain on our nation's history: Fewer than 40 years ago, many states had laws that actually forbid special needs students from attending public schools, including students who were deaf, blind or had developmental disabilities. Until the Congress passed the first version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, American public schools accommodated only 20 percent of these children with disabilities. About 1 million children with special needs had absolutely no access to public schools. An additional 3.5 million special needs children were "warehoused" out of sight of the general population, according to the National Council on Disability. Thanks to progress made by educators and disability rights advocates, times have changed. More than 6 million students now receive public education through IDEA, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities. That includes more than 222,000 special needs students in Michigan. With greater access to special education comes a greater need for teachers and education support staff to be properly trained in special education issues. That's why MEA provides assistance to members in addressing specific questions related to special education rules and services, including topics involving IDEA and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) rights. In addition to working with members on federal and state compliance, MEA provides training to both EA members and ESP members on special education issues as they arise on a case-by-case basis. To learn more about special education training, contact Marty Lankford of the MEA's Professional Development and Human Rights Department at (800) 292-1934 ext. 5479, or email him at MLankford@mea.org. Log in to mea.org to update your info Please take a moment to log in to the Members' Only section of mea.org to ensure your contact information is up to date. Keeping your information current allows you to access member-exclusive benefits, provide a way to make your dues payments, stay in the loop for MEA information, and sign up to receive MEA Voice Online and Capitol Comments.