Posts tagged Michigan Education Association
Birch Run teachers union president decries state testing
January 25, 2026 // Test scores from M-STEP, Michigan’s assessment of public school students, paint an unfavorable picture of Urbanowski-Nowak’s district. More than two-thirds (68%) of third graders at Birch Run Area Schools were not proficient on the English Language Arts exam in 2024-25. Two-thirds (66%) of the district’s third-grade students were not proficient in math in 2024-25. Research by the group Tennesseans for Quality Early Education concludes that proficiency in reading and math by the end of third grade is one of the strongest predictors of future academic achievement and career success.
Teachers union distorts record on education spending
January 22, 2026 // Michigan spent $6,391 per pupil in 2000, according to Michael Van Beek, director of research at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. That is $12,271 per student in today’s dollars. Per pupil funding was $14,911 in 2025, or 22% more than the inflation-adjusted amount for 2000.
Tenured faculty at Michigan State reach deal to unionize
September 11, 2025 // A recognition agreement was signed by representatives from both MSU and the Union of Tenure System Faculty on Sept. 8, “following a neutral party verification confirming that a clear majority of eligible faculty submitted authorization cards in support of union representation,” union officials said in a release. The new union of nearly 2,000 members includes all faculty appointed under the rules of tenure and holding the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor employed by Michigan State University. Librarians without management duties are included.
MICHIGAN: While you were sleeping, the law changed
March 12, 2025 // The two laws were scheduled to take effect Feb. 21. The Legislature acted minutes (not hours) before the deadline and delivered the bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the middle of the night. Employers went to sleep on Feb. 20, woke up to a new regulatory environment, and are scrambling to understand the laws. How did we get here? In 2018, out-of-state advocacy groups sent two ballot measures to the Legislature. One measure imposed paid sick time mandates on every employer in the state — every company, nonprofit and government entity. The other measure mandated minimum wage increases, eviscerating the tip credit that helps restaurant servers and bartenders earn well above minimum wage.
Union contracts should not protect drunken teachers
March 6, 2025 // The Bay City union contract spelled out the process: A teacher’s first offense resulted in a written reprimand and the teacher was required to go through counseling. The second offense resulted in a three-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Third offense: a five-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Fourth offense: a 10-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Only upon the fifth offense could the district fire the teacher. It gets worse. A teacher using illegal drugs at school got three strikes before she could be fired. Even teachers caught selling drugs could not be fired until their second offense.
Unions must represent all covered workers, even nonmembers, Michigan Supreme Court rules
May 13, 2024 // Workers who disagree with their union’s political speech cannot be forced to subsidize that speech through dues or fees. Despite this, unions aggressively attempt to organize public sector workers, knowing that by doing so, they are choosing to represent members and nonmembers equally. By upholding a union’s duty of fair representation, the Michigan Supreme Court has ensured that these protections continue, and cut short union efforts to strongarm employees into membership.
Michigan: Unions Can’t Discriminate Against Non-Members
April 27, 2023 // Unions must not be allowed to charge non-members exorbitant fees for the right to voice complaints to their employer, according to an amicus brief filed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy to the Michigan Supreme Court. The brief was filed in the case Technical Professional and Officeworkers Association of Michigan v. Renner. Unions have monopoly power over employment rules and conditions, including how grievances must be addressed. In this case, the union refused to represent Daniel Lee Renner in a dispute with his employer unless he paid $1,290 just to start the grievance process. The collective bargaining agreement negotiated by TPOAM prohibits individual employees like Renner from filing grievances on their own behalf. This forces those employees to obtain union representation if they wish to have their voices heard. “This policy is meant to strongarm public employees who have made it clear that they do not want to associate with a union,” said Patrick J. Wright
In Michigan, a Modicum of Justice for a COVID-Exploiting Teachers’ Union
March 21, 2023 // According to a January 2022 Freedom Foundation report, labor unions and related organizations procured some 223 loans totaling $36.1 million during the period between the passage of the CARES Act in March 2020, which created the PPP program, and the American Rescue Plan in March 2021, which modified it. Leading recipients included teachers’ unions, government employees’ unions, and AFL-CIO advocacy groups. As the Freedom Foundation asserted in its report: The ineligible loans diverted resources away from the purpose of the PPP, namely helping businesses keep employees on payroll. Further, given that union revenue derives primarily from dues deducted from members’ paychecks, direct support to unions was unnecessary; to the extent the PPP loans to businesses allowed union employees to keep working, it also allowed unions to continue collecting dues from their paychecks.
From Coast to Coast, What’s Going On with State & Local Teacher Union Affiliates
January 24, 2023 //
Teachers union spends $1M on Michigan governor’s race
November 2, 2022 // Yet the MEA, along with its parent organization, the National Education Association, is heavily funding Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s reelection campaign, as well as some Michigan school board races. The NEA is spending $1 million in Whitmer’s favor. The MEA is also endorsing nearly 200 candidates in local school board races and giving more than $1,000 each to many candidates across the state. This amount goes a long way in local school board elections. The NEA and MEA are supporting candidates who will back the status quo. The Washington Examiner reported April 7 that the NEA spent $66 million on political activities and another $117 million on political contributions, gifts, and grants for the 2020-21 reporting cycle. MEA’s total spending for 2022 is not yet available.