MEA Votes

This past weekend, state legislators finalized and passed measures that enable Michigan to compete in the federal Race to the Top competition, putting the state in the running for up to $400 million in extra federal funds. It's money that could better equip our educators and prepare our children for the future. Unfortunately, the legislation also included some provisions that will hurt educators and students in the process.

MEA was quite vocal about making sure that legislators understood that this vote was about more than just political grandstanding and posturing. MEA President Iris Salters had some tough words in the Detroit News several weeks ago, and the MEA issued a tongue-in-cheek request of legislators last week asking that they make sure to read the bills before voting on them, something that should be common-sense, but as we've learned doesn't always happen.

Immediately after the bills passed on Saturday, a joint statement from Salters and AFT-Michigan President David Hecker outlined that all the required components for RTTT were ultimately agreed upon, but that the Legislature overstepped the RTTT requirements by stripping bargaining rights from employees in struggling schools that are taken over by a state school reform officer. The statement put it best: “The absolutely unnecessary language in the bills stripping educators of their voice in helping students in those struggling schools is something we cannot and will not support.”

MEA is encouraging legislators to fix that flaw in the RTTT package as it moves forward.