MEA Votes

The next couple hours and days will be crucial in deciding the quality of education Michigan's children get in the next months and years as our state government sets next year's budget.

Lawmakers have the power to decide how much of our state's budget is devoted to funding K-12 education. Michigan's teachers, educational support staff, parents, and citizens all across the state have been diligently urging our leaders to make sure they continue to fund our children's future, but it has come down to the wire, and we need your help.

A poll released today by EPIC-MRA showed that only about a quarter of Michigan voters support a cuts-only solution to the state budget crisis.

That must be news to legislative leaders in Lansing who are pushing for one!

In her monthly column in The Detroit News. MEA President Iris K. Salters says that quick fixes can sometimes cause long-term devastation.

"That is exactly what will happen if lawmakers in Lansing enact massive budget cuts to education and other programs, hurting students and communities for years to come," Salters writes.

"Rather than cutting programs -- from education to public safety to human services -- that serve the public good and ensure our success as a state, let's invest in our future."

Read her full column and be sure to tell the News what you think (letters@detnews.com) -- or just post comments here!

At a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club on Monday, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township) and Sen. Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) seemed on the same page about budget cuts, but not about the new revenue that would make those cuts palatable.

MEA participated in two different calls for real solutions to the budget crisis on Tuesday, while legislative leaders inched closer to a budget deal that is no bargain for anyone else in the state.