MEA Voice Magazine - October 2021 Issue

#MiEdChamps

October 2021 | Vol. 99 | Issue 1 | mea.org

LETTER TO MEMBERS

What is Happening Here “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” That line from a 1967 Buffalo Springfield song could apply to many individual events happening lately in Michigan. However, put them all together and a distinct picture begins to emerge.

Recent months have seen a rash of hostile behavior and rhetoric at school board meetings statewide— as across the country—with small but vocal groups using threats and intimidation to fight efforts to keep students safe and learning in the ways educators know best.

Educators and school communities are working together to raise voices against the bullying behavior targeting school board members and administrators.

Lately threats have moved beyond board meetings and are targeting individual educators—reinforcing the essential strength in numbers that comes from being in a union. You can read more about it on page 15.

Let us state in no uncertain terms: when it comes to attacks on individuals or groups of members and their ability to do their job for students, we will defend our members under their collective bargaining agreements and, when necessary, in a court of law.

Paula J. Herbart President 2 OCTOBER 2021

Meanwhile, Republicans in the state House last month voted on a controversial measure that would bar virtually all discussion about race and gender differences in the curriculum.

The bill is part of a nationwide disinformation campaign about what is and isn’t taught in public schools.

Backlash against so-called “critical race theory” curriculum—which does not exist in K-12 schools—also happens to be one issue driving school board disruptions we discussed above.

MEA strongly opposes this and similar legislation that stops educators from working with students to develop an understanding about our nation’s history and how to work for a more equal society. Polls show most Michigan residents oppose these bills, too.

Another wrong-way turn favored by some of our state’s GOP leaders in concert with Republican-controlled states like Georgia and Texas would restrict voters’ access to the ballot box—another issue on which they stand in opposition to the majority of our state’s citizens.

Three years ago, by a 67-33 margin, Michigan voters approved changes to make voting easier and more secure—and it worked: A record

Chandra A. Madafferi Vice President

number of voters turned out in 2020 for the most secure election in history.

Audits and court cases have confirmed the election’s outcome.

Yet a Republican-backed group is pressing forward with a petition drive to subvert the voters’ will using a mechanism in the state Constitution to avoid Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto.

The ploy would allow the Legislature to simply pass the measures outlined in the petition into law after gathering just 340,000 signatures from Michigan’s 7.5 million registered voters. The measure would not require the governor’s signature and would be exempt from veto.

This group is gathering signatures now, and we urge you to Decline to Sign—this petition isn’t about letting voters decide and it’s based on lies about the 2020 election that have been disproven again and again in state after state.

Something is happening here, and it is very clear: Our schools, the truth, and democracy are values that unite us as Americans, but they are under attack. We’re grateful that together we can stand in defense of all three as part of this great union.

Brett R. Smith Secretary-Treasurer

CONTENTS

#UnionStrong

9 What it looks like

10 Map of the future 14 Union City success 20 Special ed caucus 22 Saved by legal help 26 Region Elections Rules and open seats Editor’s Note: Due to a nationwide supply chain issue, this issue of MEA Voice is not printed as usual on paper that is a mix of responsibly sourced and postconsumer recycled paper. We expect to return to our normal FSC‑certified paper in December.

Executive Director �������������������� Michael Shoudy Director of Public Affairs ������������������ Doug Pratt Editor �����������������������������������������������Brenda Ortega Staff Photographer ����������������������� Miriam Garcia Publications Specialist �������������� Shantell Crispin The MEA Voice ISSN 1077-4564 is an official publication of the Michigan Education Association, 1216 Kendale Blvd., East Lansing, MI 48823. Opinions stated in the MEA Voice do not necessarily reflect the official position of the MEA unless so identified. Published by Michigan Education Association, Box 2573, East Lansing, MI 48826-2573. Periodicals postage paid at East Lansing and additional mailing offices. Payment of the active membership fee entitles a member to receive the MEA Voice. Of each annual fee whether for active or affiliate membership, $12.93 is for a year’s subscription. Frequency of issue is October, December, February, April and August. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the MEA Voice, Box 2573, East Lansing, MI 48826-2573 or via email at webmaster@mea.org. Allow at least three weeks for change of address to take effect.

MEA Voice telephone: 517-332-6551 or 800-292-1934. Circulation this issue: 108,867

11— COVER STORY: Bargaining wins are being reported in locals across the state this year.

18— WHY I BELONG: LCC leader shares her MEA story of empowerment and advocacy.

15— COVER STORY: Educators are standing up and together for shared values in the face of attacks and intimidation tactics from organized groups attacking school boards across the state.

24— MEMBERS AT WORK: A longtime Mattawan math teacher is taking on a big new role.

34— MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: An ESP leader in Tuscola steps up to facilitate a book study.

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NEWS & NOTES

Editor’s Notebook I was working on this issue of the magazine on a beautiful Saturday in September when the 72-degree weather moved me to break for a walk in the woods. I went to a nature preserve and bird sanctuary, owned and stewarded by the Jackson Audubon Society, up the road from my house.

The last time I’d visited the Kate Palmer Sanctuary, the trail had been overgrown in spots with brush and prickly vines, and in several places I either needed to climb over the trunk of a newly fallen tree or skip a portion of the path made impassable by downed branches.

However, on this day the 53-acre site was newly cleared. Fresh yellow sawdust mixed with dark soil where chunks of log had been excised to make way for walking. Thick tangled overgrowth was cut back in narrower stretches of trail.

As I walked along a path skirting Sandstone Creek, which feeds the Grand River and ultimately flows into Lake Michigan, I thought of those members and friends of Audubon who use brush cutters, chain saws, and muscle to maintain this scenic woodland for all to enjoy.

My mind drifted to thoughts of the many inspiring MEA leaders and members whose moving stories are featured in this issue of the Voice, who contribute their time, efforts and heart to the work of our union and maintaining public education in Michigan.

Folks like Mike Eyre, president of the Union City Education Association in rural Branch County, step up every day because they believe in what the union stands for and what we do. His local’s story is featured on page 14.

When asked why he took on the job of president 20 years ago—just five years into his career as a history teacher—Eyre said, “I wanted to make sure that we were working with the district to do what was right, not only for our members but also the community and our student population.”

Why has he stayed at it so long? “I guess it’s the continued success and the fact I’m vested in this community. It’s where I grew up. I live here.

My kids go to school here.”

This month’s #UnionStrong Voice is full of people like Mike whose individual contributions clear the way for others so we can all move forward in our mission: to protect, advocate, and advance the rights of all education professionals to promote quality public education for all students.

They make me proud to do my part. (And by the way, I joined the Audubon Society.)

4 OCTOBER 2021

—Brenda Ortega, editor

4,500

Number of teachers who had applications denied from a federal student loan forgiveness program for public servants since July of 2020, many for minor paperwork errors.

The program’s 98% rejection rate has led a coalition of public sector unions, including NEA and AFT, to call for the Biden Administration to act. Read MEA President Paula Herbart’s column on how student debt contributes to the educator shortage and ways to solve the problem at mea.org/ labor-voices-student-debt.

QUOTABLES “COVID rescue funds from the state and federal government are an opportunity to show communities what is possible when Michigan invests in students and their schools.”

NEA President Becky Pringle, during a Michigan stop on her Joy, Justice & Excellence tour. On page 9, see a visit to Detroit by the 30-year science teacher elected to lead the national union one year ago. On page 15, read about a recent spate of attacks on school boards and Pringle’s response to hearing stories of affected MEA members and staff.

NEWS & NOTES

Above and Beyond At the end of September, the Legislature and Governor agreed on the 2021-22 fiscal year budget with $2.2 billion in higher education funding, including increases for community colleges and universities of 1% for the coming year, plus a one-time 3.9% supplemental increase. The budget also includes more than $135 million for programs to encourage post-secondary education, such as the Michigan Reconnect and Futures for Frontliners programs. The budget is being hailed as a “historic investment” in child care, allocating $1.4 billion in federal COVID relief funds to support child care providers and bring down costs for families.

The state’s $17 billion K-12 education budget, signed in July, also featured historic increases in per-pupil funding. “I am thrilled that the legislature and I were able to come together to agree on a bipartisan budget,” Gov. Whitmer said. “Our collaboration is a testament to what’s possible when we work together and put our families, communities, and small businesses first.”

ICYMI NEA released a first-of-its-kind report on the impact of a growing mountain of student loan debt among educators. The report, “Student Loan Debt Among Educators: A National Crisis,” found that no segment of educators is immune from the burden. With this crisis, however, comes the opportunity for transformation. Learn how you can take action and spread the word at nea.org/ studentloandebt.

Important findings within the report include: • About three-fifths (59%) of educators with unpaid loans reported that the debt had a bearing on their ability to build up their emergency savings and four in 10 said that paying off their student loans impacted their mental, emotional, and/or physical well-being.

• Black educators took on significantly more debt than other racial/ethnic groups, with an average initial total of $68,300 among those who took out loans, compared to $54,300 for white educators and $56,400 for Latin(o/a/x), Hispanic, and Chican(o/a/x) educators. Sixteen percent of Black educators who used student loans borrowed $105,000 or more compared to 11 percent of white educators.

• Two-thirds of educators ages 61 and up with unpaid student loans report that paying down their debt has affected their ability to save for retirement.

Even half of the youngest educators—those ages 18-35—said that this was a predicament for them.

QUOTABLES “For Agnes Shanklin and Richard Cima, of blessed memory, and for all the union thugs who teach high school English.”

Mary Doria Russell, New York Times bestselling author, in the dedication of her historical novel, The Women of the Copper Country.

Set in the Michigan mining town of Calumet in 1913, the book is this year’s Great Michigan Read. Based on true events, the novel tells the moving story of 25-year-old Annie Clements, who leads a strike against the largest copper mining company in the world. Kirkus Reviews calls it, “historical fiction that feels uncomfortably relevant today.” Read more on page 6.

MEA VOICE 5

NEWS & NOTES

UPCOMING EVENTS February 3-4

MEA Winter Conference Marriott Renaissance Center, Detroit At MEA’s biggest conference of the year, members and leaders network and attend training sessions in bargaining, organizing, member advocacy, political action, communications, classroom best practices, and more.

March 2

Read Across America Nationwide Educators across the country will be “Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers.” Visit nea.org/readacross to order a free classroom calendar and access activities for all year long.

Story of Michigan Labor History is ‘Great Michigan Read’ Bestselling author Mary Doria Russell’s riveting fictionalized account of 25-year-old Annie Clements in The Women of the Copper Country has been selected as the 2021-22 Great Michigan Read.

Russell spent time in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, walking the streets of Calumet, touring mines and visiting local museums as she prepared to write her fictionalized account of the real-life Big Annie and how she stood up for copper miners and their families during the 1913 copper strikes.

MEA Headquarters, East Lansing

“Here was a 25-year-old woman who is central to a strike against the most powerful company in the most dangerous industry of her time,” Russell said. “A child of despised immigrants. A housewife with a simple education in a time when women couldn’t vote and weren’t supposed to take part in public life. Somehow, she mobilized 10,000 miners and kept everyone going, day after day, month after month. So my task was to tell readers: What makes a woman like Annie Clements?”

Aspiring and early career educators will gather to network and train on topics such as classroom management, high-leverage best practices, legal issues, work-life balance, and union involvement.

Michigan Humanities’ Great Michigan Read connects Michiganians by deepening readers’ understanding of our state, society, and humanity.

A statewide panel of teachers, librarians, community leaders and book lovers selects the Great Michigan Read every two years. Keep an eye out for events surrounding the book next spring, and look for reader and teacher guides at michiganhumanities.org.

March 5

MEA Conference for Aspiring and Early Career Educators

March 18-19

ESP Statewide Conference MEA Headquarters, East Lansing Education support professionals will gather to network and train on topics such as legal issues, ESP certification, privatization, school violence, and member engagement.

As details are available, learn more and register for MEA conferences at mea.org/conferences.

6 OCTOBER 2021

Log in to New Member Portal and Win By logging into the new MEA Member Portal at mea.org between now and Oct. 31, you can be entered into a drawing for one of 16 gift card prizes— up to $500.

To get in the running, simply log in to the Members Only area of mea.org and click on “MEA Member Portal” to verify or update your contact information. It only takes a few minutes—so log in now and get in the running for prizes!

The Future is Now Weathering the Political Storm From granting collective bargaining rights to deciding how much money is spent for students, public education is an inherently political profession, but educators are often missing from policy discussions and decisions.

Research has shown this lack of respect for educators’ expertise and professionalism is a big factor driving the educator shortage.

Our next generation of leaders refuses to let that continue.

MEA’s Aspiring Educators (AEM) and MiNE (Michigan New Educators) groups are taking an active role in influencing policymakers. Both groups supported the Respecting Educators package of bills introduced by House Democrats in June. Read more at mea.org/ respecting-educators-bills.

AEM focuses on four pillars of success: educator quality, community outreach, social justice, and political action.

Ferris State students stood with professors in a 2018 strike. Last year AEM held a Town Hall Chat with Lt. Governor Gilchrist and ran a Get Out the Vote campaign. Michigan State students used political pressure to push for changes to their fifth-year internship. Read more at mea.org/ aspiring-educators-build-empowering-movement.

AEM has an at-large position on its Board of Directors focused on political action. This year Abriana White from Wayne State University will serve in this position to engage AEM members in understanding the importance of political action and participating in the political process.

MiNE is helping to educate early career educators with their October podcast, “Weathering the Political Storm,” a primer on lobbying, candidate endorsements, and ways to get involved. Search for “Michigan new educators” to hear that episode and others wherever you get podcasts.

Aspiring Educators and MiNE have seen the impact of bad policy decisions and discovered the power of the collective voice—and they will carry those lessons with them throughout their professional careers and future union work.

MEA VOICE 7

MESSA program lights path toward better tomorrow members with catastrophic injuries or illnesses, such as head or spinal cord injuries, multiple fractures, cancer, ALS and more. They help you navigate the complexities of health care by recommending providers and serving as your personal advocate.

Heidi Tyner, a middle-school teacher in Delton-Kellogg Schools, says her son Joseph is alive today in large part thanks to MESSA’s MCM program.

MESSA member Heidi Tyner credits the Medical Case Management Program with saving the life of her son, Joseph. (Photo: Dave Trumpie for MESSA)

Getting treatment for a serious illness or injury can be overwhelming, expensive and complicated. With MESSA’s Medical Case Management (MCM) program, you don’t have to go it alone.

Through the MCM program, you have free access to personal support from a nurse coordinator, who can ensure you get access to the right care at the right time, so you can get back to living your highest quality of life.

The MCM nurse coordinators are case managers who work with

Since infancy, whenever Joseph tried to eat, it came right back up.

Following a failure to thrive diagnosis, Joseph still wasn’t improving by age 3, so surgeons installed a surgical gastrostomy tube, or“G-tube,” leading to his stomach. Even after that, he wasn’t hitting his milestones.

“He was skeletal and his skin was gray,” Tyner says of Joseph, then 6.

“My son was dying and we still had no answers.”

Joseph’s case manager got him into Mayo Clinic and set up appointments with specialists there.

“Getting into Mayo was a dream come true.” because it gave us hope. That would never have been possible if not for MESSA.” The Tyners spent two weeks at Mayo, getting full workups from multiple specialists. The gastrointestinal specialist there determined that the next step was installing a “GJ-tube,” which bypassed Joseph’s stomach directly into his small intestine.

It worked.

“As a result, he is alive today,” Tyner says.

Joseph is now 20 years old and living an active life.

One day, Tyner was going over medical statements with a MESSA member service specialist who suggested she enroll Joseph in the MCM program.

With MESSA’s MCM program, you’re in charge; while our nurse coordinators can assist with coordinating care, all final decisions are still made by you and your doctor.

The goal is to provide support to help you regain independence and confidently make health decisions.

“I didn't even know having a caseworker from an insurer was an option,” Tyner says. “The fact that the MESSA member service specialist saw what was happening and suggested the Medical Case

Find out if you’re eligible for MESSA’s MCM program by calling 800-441-4626. Nurse coordinators are available Monday through Friday during regular business hours to answer your questions.

MESSA Medical Case Management Learn more about MESSA’s Medical Case Management program by calling 800-441-4626 or visiting messa.org/mcm.

8 OCTOBER 2021

Management program changed everything for us.”

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT Stories by Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor

Strength in union takes many forms.

It can look like a team of blearyeyed bargainers negotiating a contract through the wee hours of morning, or a crowd of educators standing in solidarity for what’s right.

It’s training and developing new leaders who build the next generation of activists, but it’s also the strength of the collective protecting an individual.

It’s striving and planning and building a better union from the ground up, and leveraging that power to offer everyone the opportunities of a great education in a healthier, more just and equitable society.

Union strong certainly looks like NEA President Becky Pringle, who traveled to Detroit in August as part of a coalition of hundreds of civil rights and labor leaders rallying in Detroit, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. to stop voter suppression in states across the country.

At the rally, Pringle spoke powerfully to the goals of the Fighting for Our Vote coalition that NEA joined: passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, protecting and expanding mail and early voting options, and efficient election administration.

In many states, including Michigan, Republicans are passing or trying to pass laws to curtail voting with strict ID requirements, fewer voting locations and ballot drop-boxes, and reduced voting days and hours—all premised on the falsehood that Donald Trump did not lose the election and all disproportionately

NEA President Becky Pringle joined other civil rights and labor leaders in Detroit for the Fighting for Our Vote Rally in August. (Photo: Jeffrey Sauger Photography)

affecting the young, poor, and voters of color.

The right to vote is the right to be heard, Pringle said. She urged everyone’s attention because ensuring the right to exercise voice and power through voting is at the core of public education’s promise.

“Detroit—we must be vigilant demanding that this country lives up to its promise!” she cried. “It’s ‘We the people’! All of us! We will be vigilant in fighting for our vote, because our babies are depending on us to be worthy of them!”

Pringle returned to Michigan in September as part of her nationwide Joy, Justice & Excellence tour.

She met with leaders of a Resilient Schools project in Lincoln Park, visited Farmington’s Warner Middle School to learn how staff and students have coped in the pandemic, and was briefed on attacks against school boards in Michigan, reflecting incidents across the country. Read more on page 15.

Here and throughout this issue we lift up members and leaders whose stories demonstrate the spirit, determination and vitality of MEA and NEA. The fact is strength in union can be witnessed everywhere.

It looks a lot like you.

MEA VOICE 9

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT Plan Points the Way to Solidarity, Strength, Success At the start of her 30th year in public education MEA President Paula Herbart is looking forward, and a newly unveiled MEA Strategic Plan is helping bring the future into focus.

Developed over the past year by a committee of union leaders and staff, the document defines the union’s aspirations—shared values that guide our work and the vital mission that drives it.

And it targets outcomes to pursue in the next several years that answer key questions—what does success look like, and what barriers must be dismantled to get us there?

“This is an exciting opportunity to clearly define who we are, what matters most to us, and how we’re going to work collectively to advance the ball in this challenging environment,” Herbart said. “If our newly revised mission statement is ‘to protect, advocate, and advance the rights of all education professionals to promote quality public education for all students,’ how are we going to do that?”

Each year, an action plan will detail ground-level steps to move forward in six strategic directions: to advance public education professionals PK-16; to build a fully engaged membership; to build the capacity of the locals; to secure a pro-public education agenda; to advance racial and social justice; and to prioritize public education as a common good.

“It matters for educators to be well compensated, of course, but it also

10 OCTOBER 2021

matters whether they have professional autonomy or not,” Herbart said. “It matters whether their professional expertise is respected, and it matters whether all of the students they serve feel comfortable, safe and ready to learn.

“We build partnerships to advance racial and social justice, because unions have always been a part of that movement—best evidenced by (UAW leader) Walter Reuther’s powerful relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy during the Civil Rights Movement.

It’s in our DNA. “And ultimately it matters for all educators to have a voice in the political decisions that directly impact their students and the classrooms, buses, kitchens or offices where they work.”

The plan won’t be shelved, she added. “We want our members, leaders and staff to breathe life into these goals and ideals—to meet others where they’re at and dig in to the day-to-day work of engaging, educating, communicating, and organizing that makes our collective voices and actions stronger.”

To that end, Herbart and MEA Executive Director Mike Shoudy will be traveling to coordinating councils and region meetings to challenge union leaders to chart a forward course using the plan.

“This isn’t about telling anyone what to do,” Herbart concluded. “It’s about empowering people.”

Paula Herbart

Read the new MEA Strategic Plan at mea.org/about-us.

EXAMPLE OUTCOMES ∎ Provide opportunities for professional growth in the association and profession. ∎ Engage members in planning activities of the local to meet members’ needs and advance a shared understanding of collective action. ∎ Expand connections with local leaders and streamline communications to increase awareness of resources, trainings, opportunities and policies. ∎ Engage legislators at the local level to build champions for public education. ∎ Help recruit, engage, and retain a diverse population of educators reflective of the students we serve. ∎ Enhance public schools’ partnerships with communitybased organizations to support broader community engagement.

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT

BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Flint Teachers Unite for Contract Win The celebration was short-lived when members of United Teachers of Flint learned the district was offering to pay each of them a $22,500 bonus, using some of the federal COVID-relief money sent to the district this year.

Soon after that, in contract negotiations that have lasted 18 months, the district pitched a three-year salary and step freeze.

“We put a survey out to our members, because we didn’t want to make a decision without their influence,” said Karen Christian, local president. “The response was very clear: We’ll take the bonus, but we’re not taking a freeze. No way.”

Flint teachers have endured salary and step freezes in 11 of the past 12 years and worked all last year under an expired contract. In 2014 they took a 19% pay cut, and suffered dozens of lost positions, to help bring the district out of debt.

Now the debt is gone, but deficit spending remains.

“That’s not our fault, and we’re tired of everything getting done

on the backs of us,” Christian said.

“Something needed to change.”

Those messages were hammered home with district leaders at the negotiation table and when union members turned out in force to conduct informational picketing and attend a Flint Community Schools board meeting in July—all of which garnered significant news coverage.

Teachers on the picket line carried signs that read, “Begin to make us whole again”; “Stop the attacks”; and “19% wasn’t enough?”

Recruitment and retention have remained a problem in the district for several years, as salaries have declined or stagnated and educators continue leaving for higher-paying districts. In addition, the starting salary has been among the lowest in the state.

In testimony at the July board meeting, MEA UniServ Director Bruce Jordan said it was no mystery why educators were leaving. Those who’ve stayed are still making less than they did in 2003.

For that reason he would not take concessionary proposals to the membership for consideration, Jordan testified. “The board needs to acknowledge and honor all of the concessions that took place over the last 12 years and recognize these weren’t meant to be forever. People have to have a career path.”

The membership was preparing to stand its ground with a job action, Christian said. Instead, a three-year contract will include COVID-19 bonus payments of $22,500, a 1.5% salary increase this year, and scrapping of a 37-step pay grid that tied movement to complicated and unrealistic triggers.

Under the contract, negotiations will begin in February for a traditional salary schedule with increases and step movements.

Bargaining: This is how we do it MEA’s bargaining tools and reports help negotiating teams come to the table prepared, says MEA Bargaining Consultant Craig Culver. Any of these can be accessed through your local Association’s UniServ/Executive Director. ∎ The MEA Proposal Cost Calculator is a database tool that allows users to enter a bargaining proposal and receive a report in seconds that details costs to the district down to the penny. ∎ The MEA financial analysis report produced by MEA’s Labor Economist Tanner Delpier shows a district’s anticipated current school year revenue, plus revenues and expenditures over time, and fund balances over time, which helps bargainers see how much money a district has and where it is. ∎ Another database called “Profiles” produces detailed reports of audited data with every K-12 and Intermediate School district’s spending over time and allows searchers to zero in on categories such as total administrative salaries or total teacher compensation back to 1994.

MEA VOICE 11

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT

BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Local Unions Report Successful Bargains Across State Four years ago, serendipity stepped in to help MEA UniServ Director Mike McGee and a bargaining team in Portland win a good contract for secretaries—and set the stage for an even better outcome in talks this year for the district’s secretaries, paraeducators, and aides.

That late afternoon in 2017, the district’s outside attorney was continuing to use threats of privatization to keep pay low, despite the fact that higher wages in neighboring districts and businesses were luring employees away in a revolving door of staff turnover.

At the table as part of the union’s team was longtime transportation secretary Elizabeth Nurenberg, and McGee pointed to her 20 years of committed service to say dedicated employees deserved better than to be the region’s lowest paid workers.

The lawyer told McGee, “If she’s not happy, tell her to find something else, and we could have Dean (Transportation) replace her within a week.”

Moments later, Nurenberg’s phone rang and she answered despite being off-duty. The dispatcher reported a missing student. “What’s the student’s name?” Nurenberg asked.

“OK, I might know. Just a minute.”

As she stood and stepped out, the superintendent—seated across the table with the lawyer—took a call about the missing student.

Discussions ensued about whether to call police. Fifteen minutes later, Nurenberg returned and said, “We’ve got him. He’s fine.”

12 OCTOBER 2021

The key to the mystery?

Nurenberg’s knowledge of students and families in the district. She figured the missing boy might have gone to a friend’s house without telling anyone, so she made some phone calls, verified his location, and had the student call home. Situation resolved.

“I just leaned across the table and said, ‘If this were Dean Transportation instead of Elizabeth, that person is off the clock already,’—and then I pointed at the superintendent—‘and you would be on the phone with police trying to hunt down this student. You’d have parents who are upset.’”

It was a moment of change for first-year superintendent Will Heath, who pulled the lawyer from both teacher and support staff bargaining tables and offered secretaries a modest increase. This year he agreed with McGee: “These positions are way behind peers in the area, and we need to fix this.”

“This year after reemphasizing Elizabeth’s story and that message— that it’s in the students’ best interest to have dedicated support staff—we were able to get the best contract I’ve ever settled.”

The three-year deal for secretaries, paras and aides included a 5% pay increase per year, he said: “It’s not that we’re making them ultra wealthy, but we were able bring them up to county average, and that will stabilize district staffing with dedicated professionals who directly impact the students they serve.”

Similar tales of bargaining successes echoed across many areas of the state this summer.

In the Thumb, union leaders in Millington shortened the wage scale and added longevity, while the team in Unionville-Sebewaing added new-hire incentives and increased elementary prep time to wage and step increases. In the Great Lakes Bay Region, Essexville-Hampton negotiated teacher salary increases, plus steps and restoration of all previously frozen steps by next year.

“It’s been a good year to bargain,” said MEA UniServ Director Kurt Murray, who represents districts in the northwestern tip of the Lower Peninsula.

Murray agreed to reopen the bus drivers’ contract at CharlevoixEmmett ISD with two years left to go, and the team secured a four-year deal with raises of 15% the first year and 2% for each of the next three years, plus additional paid holiday hours, among other improvements.

“These drivers transport some of the most vulnerable students in the ISD region, so we need these positions fully staffed with dedicated individuals,” Murray said.

Drivers have been in short supply everywhere this fall. The pandemic has worsened an already serious educator shortage in the state. Last year, educator retirements rose by 40% in Michigan on the heels of an eight-year 70% plunge in the number of college students enrolled in teacher prep programs.

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT

BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT through the COVID years and signing bonuses to draw in new talent, in addition to salary and step increases, said Local 1 President Mary Campbell, a Mount Clemens early childhood special education teacher.

The biggest change for most members: step restoration, in some cases as many as seven steps, Campbell said. “Teachers have sacrificed their salaries for years, and now it’s finally being paid back.”

During one late-August session, Grosse Pointe bargainers worked until 5 a.m. to reach agreement.

In July Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a state K-12 education budget that brings historic investment in Michigan schools—more than $17 billion—and per-pupil funding at $8,700 that is equal across all districts for the first time since 1994.

At the same time, Whitmer signed appropriations bills to send $4.4 billion in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to Michigan schools.

Distributed based on need according to Title I formulas, the so-called ESSER (Elementary Secondary Schools Emergency Relief) funds can be spent over three years.

In such a tight labor market, pulling together a comparison of wages in the region can move administrators reluctant to spend rainy day funds and one-time ARP money, said Deb Larson, who helped to secure a 20% pay raise for Hillman paras this summer.

“This is a people profession,” Larson said. “OK—call it one-time money, sure. But you have to be able to retain people.”

Larson brokered the same deal for Alpena’s bus drivers, a move that hikes starting wages from $14 to $17.

Yet even so, Alpena Schools—like many others—began the school year short of regular and substitute drivers for routes that cover the district’s 604 square miles.

In Local 1, a Multi Association Bargaining Organization (MABO) representing nearly 3,000 educators in Macomb, Wayne, and St. Clair Counties, nearly all of the 13 districts that fall under the MABO’s umbrella bargained or reopened contracts this year.

Nearly all wrapped up deals that include retention bonuses to reward and keep teachers who stayed

It’s been a tough decade financially, and the COVID-19 crisis has heaped more difficulties onto teachers, Campbell said, so every increase in pay and benefits is deserved. “Districts are desperately trying to keep their staffs.”

The bargaining team in Grosse Pointe went into this year’s talks with that philosophy in mind, said Ken Ferguson, the local’s treasurer and a member of the team. “We went in believing our teachers deserve the sun and moon, especially after going above and beyond during COVID,” Ferguson said.

Bargaining continued through summer, so when movement began late in the night of Aug. 26, the two sides remained until reaching agreement around 5 a.m. The twoyear contract eliminates half steps from the schedule, guarantees steps and on-schedule raises for both years, and increases extra-duty and coaching pay.

“We kept the same dialogue going the whole time,” Ferguson said.

“Bottom line is you’ve got the money, and this is how you show appreciation for all we do.”

MEA VOICE 13

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Union Members Stand Up in Emotional Board Testimony

L-R Sherri Falkner, Mike Eyre and Christine Bigelow.

Mike Eyre has been a middle school history teacher for 25 years, and he’s served nearly two decades as president of his local union. But even Eyre was moved by a recent turn of events that he and his Union City members influenced through their passionate advocacy.

Over the summer the school board was conducting a superintendent search, looking to move the 1,000-student district in rural Branch County in a positive new direction after a difficult couple of years. Of three candidates, one was a lifelong resident and 36-year employee of the district, and many union members spoke before the interviews urging the board to hire the local candidate.

“We needed someone aware of Union City issues who had our interests in mind, who didn’t want to come as a stepping stone, someone who’s been here his entire career and would finish here,” Eyre said.

14 OCTOBER 2021

When two candidates returned for a second interview, members again advocated for Chris Katz—a longtime teacher and coach in the district who was then Information Technology Director and a finalist.

Eyre—whose two children, 11 and 13, attend Union City schools where he grew up—waited until last.

Then he stepped to the podium and reminded the board the meeting hadn’t adjourned; they could still make a different choice. All they needed was a motion to reconsider.

“A lot of our members spoke at the meeting, and not just dues-paying members. We encouraged members of the bargaining unit who were not dues-paying members to speak their mind, too.”

One board member made a motion to adjourn. Another motioned to reconsider the vote, which passed 4-3. After more talk, as the five-hour meeting stretched toward 11 p.m., the board reversed direction and selected Katz in another 4-3 vote—followed by a 7-0 vote to support the new superintendent.

After the interviews, the board deliberated briefly and voted 5-2 to hire the other candidate.

“Everybody in the audience became very upset. We had six or eight members get up to give public comment after they’d already called and offered the other candidate the job. Even people at home watching it on Facebook Live drove up to the meeting and had time to put their two-cents in.”

One after another, members spoke in what local radio station WTVB described as emotional testimony: “I think it’s a shame you didn’t give Chris Katz an opportunity to lead, as he has given his life and his career to this school, and I think you got it wrong,” says one woman identified only as a staff member in a recording on the station’s website.

“We had members speaking to the board in tears,” Eyre said. “It was that important to stand up and say, ‘You’ve got to listen to us.’”

Eyre credited members for the win.

“It took a lot of them sticking their neck out to say this was the wrong choice for the district—even at the risk of it being held against them later—and that in turn won us a lot of support from the community.”

Sixth-grade teacher Sherri Falkner said she testified “to speak up for Chris, not because I was angry with board members, just disappointed in their decision. Chris’s interview spoke to what I was looking for in a superintendent.”

All involved want what’s best for kids, agreed fifth-grade teacher Christine Bigelow, who also testified: “With the leadership of Chris Katz, I feel confident for the first time in a long time that all of these great pieces of our school system will be working together. And together great things are possible!”

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Local Actions Combat Bullying Behavior at Board Meetings One philosophy of the union bargaining team at Clarkston Community Schools says if it’s a problem for one, it’s a problem for all.

For local president Daryl Biallas, that value now extends to a spate of attacks on school boards, administrators and educators—happening since last year but growing in the vitriol and bullying on display in Michigan and across the U.S. In these related events, people appearing at school board meetings—often as part of organized groups—follow patterns that include berating school officials with name-calling and intimidation tactics.

Viral videos have shown hecklers shouting down and threatening administrators, board members, public health officials and others with differing viewpoints.

“At some point as educators, we have to stand up and support our administration, support our school boards and stand together—all stakeholders—to do what we know is best for our kids,” Biallas said.

Last month nearly 200 Clarkston Education Association members made visible their support for school leaders by attending a board meeting dressed in red shirts.

Educators just want to work together in a supportive, connected community where mutual respect guides disagreement, Biallas said.

“Even if we don’t agree 100% of the time, our administration and our board of ed are 100% behind our teachers. We do good work. Our relationship is solid. We collaborate

on a lot of things, and we work together when we have problems and issues that we need to face.”

A few days before the school board meeting, Clarkston Superintendent Shawn Ryan issued a statement to the community addressing “recent interactions with some vocal citizens who have been less than respectful toward our learning community.”

“As public figures, the Board of Education and I can tolerate and even accept a certain level of negative behaviors, tactics, and campaigning aimed to damage our personal or professional reputations and impede our work,” the statement said. “But when it comes to our tireless public school teachers and staff, there is no acceptable level of disrespect or public shaming.”

The protest group in Clarkston began clashing with the board over a school masking mandate issued by the Oakland County Health Department. That morphed into a disinformation campaign stoking rage with false rhetoric toward the district’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices.

Shouting turned to public shaming and intimidation when a Facebook group, Clarkston Parent Advocates, targeted individual teachers. The group posted a so-called “Woke Incident Report”—a live online Google form for reporting supposed “CRT/DEI curriculum in classrooms.”

The form directed people to turn in teachers for using

Daryl Biallas

LGBTQ-respectful pronouns, discussing social justice or unconscious bias, and “Grooming students with intent of converting them into Gestapo agents,” among other items listed.

Users were invited to link accusations to photos or documents, and for a time submissions could be viewed by anyone who clicked on the form. It was taken down and reposted at least once, and a commenter offered a reward to anyone who succeeded in getting a teacher fired.

The form is not an authorized or acceptable tool for filing a complaint, Ryan said in the statement. Instead it was intended “to deny us opportunities for respectful and constructive dialogue by supporting a national narrative that seeks to fracture teacher-parent trust.”

The district has met with individuals about concerns, yet the group continues to spread falsehoods, Ryan said. “Managing this misinformation distracts from our core business of educating children.”

————— In Grand Ledge, west of Lansing, a June 14 school board meeting ended MEA VOICE 15

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

without completing the agenda when the crowd would not stop yelling and board members could not hear each other. When a recess was called, one audience member was heard threatening to physically take over the seat of the school board president during the break. Shouting continued after the meeting.

The protesters were riled over the district’s school masking mandate and about supposed teaching of “critical race theory,” a set of ideas studied at the graduate level in colleges and universities but not in K-12 Michigan schools.

At the next board meeting, members of the Grand Ledge Education Association met in the parking lot and walked in together. Some who spoke during public comment shared a message of caring, kindness, and compassion to convey that students are the top priority, GLEA President Melissa Mazzola said.

Many staff members are parents in the district, Mazzola said. They want what is best for kids, and everyone agrees that attending school in-person is best for students’ learning and social-emotional health.

While the Eaton County Health Department has not mandated masks in schools, the district did—making the case that mask use reduces spread of the virus and cuts down on how many people must quarantine after exposure, so schools stay open and kids stay in school.

“Teachers are just really excited to have our kids back in the building and to have the opportunity to meet their needs and build those relationships,” Mazzola said.

16 OCTOBER 2021

Melissa Mazzola, president of the Grand Ledge Education Association, speaks at a school board meeting in June. (Photo: Matthew Dae Smith for USA TODAY NETWORK)

However, during the GLEA members’ appearance at the board meeting, they were shouted at outside pre-meeting, in the auditorium during public testimony, and returning to their cars.

Afterward, lists of teachers who attended began circulating on social media. Other educators’ names were added to the list based on their Facebook posts, and all were spread as undesirable teachers. Many have expressed fear and anxiety about becoming a target, Mazzola said.

————— The threats and harassment must stop before someone gets hurt, says state Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a former New Haven English teacher and MEA member elected in 2018 to represent Canton, Livonia, Plymouth, Northville and Wayne. “I’m going to fight like hell against this becoming the new norm,” she said.

Polehanki has warned of a growing threat of violence against public officials since May 2020 when she tweeted a chilling photo of “unmask” protesters in the gallery above the Senate armed with rifles. Two were later charged in a violent plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“I know school board members who have had to be escorted out of a back door by police after a meeting,” said Polehanki, who has been open about her decision to keep a bulletproof vest, helmet and mace under her desk on the Senate floor.

“I’ve heard of people testifying at school board meetings who’ve been jostled and pushed and screamed at on their way out because they’re testifying in favor of a mask mandate.

I know personally a school board member who was stalked outside her home because of her stance on masks.”

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Polehanki was among seven Democratic state senators who wrote a letter in late August urging the Wayne County Health Department to consider a K-12 mask mandate in the state’s largest county amid rising case numbers and the threat of the more transmissible Delta variant.

School officials want local control, but they also need expert guidance to make decisions in a public health crisis, she said. “Hopefully the heat will be turned down. It’s just unbelievable that it’s come to a point where the police have to have a presence at school board meetings.”

————— The volatile atmosphere is driving some elected leaders from office.

In Ottawa County’s Grand Haven schools, the school board president cited harassment and threats in resigning his post in September after 22 years of service. Four days later the six-year superintendent announced his retirement.

Again the uproar has centered around mask mandates amid a pandemic and a K-12 curriculum— critical race theory—that does not exist and is not taught in Michigan.

Despite repeated attempts to clear up misconceptions about what is taught and what is not, the board struggled to keep control of meetings through outbursts of shouting and threats of recall and retaliation, said Amy Cahalan, president of the Grand Haven Education Association.

“What it feels like is the angry mob with pitchforks is storming the village after the ogre,” Cahalan said, “and public education has become the ogre.”

In Grandville, a suburb of Grand Rapids, a small but angry crowd has openly disrupted school board meetings for several months. One protester threatened school board members during public comment at a meeting in September.

As a history teacher, Grandville EA President Blake Mazurek believes in the importance of civic engagement, but he’s troubled by the behavior of these groups: name-calling, booing, mocking, and personal attacks on the character of board members, administrators and educators.

The atmosphere has harmed educators’ morale and the mental and physical well-being of school employees, he said. That’s why dozens of members and supporters answered a call to attend the next board meeting “in solidarity with all who believe in our public schools and those who defend them.”

In public remarks, Mazurek thanked district leaders for standing as a bulwark to shield staff and urged board members to “use the powers given through policy to take immediate action when members of the audience engage in the behaviors I describe. Bring dignity back to our district and community.”

————— The current climate underscores the importance of having people committed to public education step forward to run for school board seats—and for MEA members to help elect them, said Ken Ferguson, a teacher and local union treasurer in Grosse Pointe who is a school board member in West Bloomfield.

Run training on how to run for office, said there will always be loud voices of opposition, but it’s important on the local level to cultivate and support leaders who are willing to stand up for the public good.

“What’s kept me going is knowing I’m making a difference,” Ferguson said. “I’m not driven by one topic.

I have even-keeled reasoning ability.

I’m one of seven members, and although we may have dissenting opinions, we make decisions by finding consensus and then we move on.”

NEA President Becky Pringle, visiting Michigan in September as part of her nationwide Joy, Justice & Excellence Tour, heard from Ferguson and other MEA members and staff facing this challenge amid even bigger struggles.

The 30-year science teacher praised the organizing happening around values and principles that stake the higher ground for educators. “As I’ve traveled around the country, I have never been more proud to be a teacher, to be an educator, to be a unionist than in this moment.”

Pringle, elected to lead the national union just over one year ago, said her vision of the future would build community coalitions to unite the nation in reclaiming public education as a common good and building an equitable system that prepares every student to succeed in a diverse world.

Much work remains, she noted, but “As difficult as it is, I see you, I thank you. You are not alone. Don’t give up.”

Ferguson, who completed NEA’s powerful two-day See Educators MEA VOICE 17

WHY I BELONG: HIGHER ED IN FOCUS

A series exploring who makes up MEA’s Michigan Association of Higher Education (MAHE).

Eva Menefee

lead faculty advisor Lansing Community College president, LCC faculty union executive committee, MEA Board of Directors

where I see students everywhere. That’s my passion. I love helping students learn and find their path.

Eva Menefee says her interest in academic advising grew out of a bad experience she had as a young undergraduate student seeking guidance from an advisor.

“I wanted to be an accountant, which at that time meant getting into the school of business. I can remember going to see the advisor, and he said, ‘People like you don’t become accountants.’ I thought, You mean people like me who are Native?

People like me because I’m a woman?

People like me that are first-generation college students? What does that mean?

I never asked him. I walked over to the college of education and found a home.

“When I graduated from MSU in the early 80s, there were no teaching jobs, so I worked at admissions, then advising, and then I ran a transfer program between MSU and LCC. When the LCC job opened up, I applied because I wanted to work with students in my community.

I do my best advising in the aisles at Meijer or in the check-out lanes 18 OCTOBER 2021

HONING LEADERSHIP “My dad was a rigger and belonged to the Ironworkers union, and when he got sick I remember the union being supportive of him. So when I got to LCC, I joined the union and started going to meetings. I volunteered to be the secretary, and I was secretary for a long time until I thought to myself I could do more if I hone my leadership skills. I went to some NEA leadership conferences, and I became a delegate to the NEA RA (Representative Assembly) and went to my first RA meeting in San Diego. I learned so much! I became really active in my Native AmericanAlaskan Native caucus at the NEA level. And I wanted to keep on learning, so that’s what I’ve done.

I came back and got on the negotiations team, and eventually I ran for president.”

SPEAKING FOR MANY “I bring a lot of different things to the table for our faculty. More than anything else I listen. I’m trying to

get other people who are in our union to grow as union members, too, because that’s how we become strong. I’m so student-focused that I always bring that conversation—to look at how what we do affects our students. And we have so many people who are adjuncts, I always am thinking about our adjunct faculty and wanting to make sure they have a seat at the table. I want them to have a fair wage and the kinds of opportunities that folks who are full-time have.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE “I’m thankful for the union bringing our salaries up to be competitive in the field and in the area. But beyond that, I never thought I would be able to develop myself as a leader or go to leadership conferences or connect with other higher-ed members across the country. Being part of MEA has been one of my most rewarding experiences at LCC. I never realized how being part of a union could make my world so big.

I’m a person who believes every step you take with unionism is going to help you and help your future as an employee. I would say to anyone if you have the opportunity to get involved with a union where you work, even on the smallest level, that you should do that. Our union helps us do better, get better, and be better for everyone.”

NEA

Higher Education

The Union Difference

WHY I BELONG:

The data is clear: Full-time faculty are paid best when they have collectively bargained contracts.1

And that’s not all — the presence of unions also is related to the closure of pay gaps between men and women and across racial groups, and protection from gender- and race-based discrimination.2 For example, unionized institutions are more likely to have larger shares of female faculty in full professor positions.3 Additional research also shows that unions benefit individuals’ health and relationships, provideDifference in Higher Ed The Union protection against poverty-inducing events, and decrease the risk of FIGURE 1. THE PRESENCE OF FACULTY CONTRACTS IS CORRELATED WITH HIGHER political and socioeconomic SALARIES. 4,5 disenfranchisement.

HIGHER ED IN FOCUS

Average

Two-Year

Liberal Arts

Comprehensive

$103 $96 $89

$83 $68 $68 98%

$80 $90 $66

$81 $63 $58 92%

$93 $87 $79

Figure 1 uses full-time faculty salary data, collected and published by the federal government, to show average faculty salaries for public institutions in 2018-2019: first, with faculty collective Earlier this year second, NEA published bargaining agreements; a special report, “Faculty Salary without faculty collective bargaining Analysis 2019-20,” and the data is agreements, but located in the same clear: Full-time faculty are paid best state as institutions with faculty unions; when they have collectively barand third, states without any faculty gainedincontracts.¹ collective bargaining agreements.

Salaries for faculty in public instiutitons (in thousands), 2019-20. n With contract n State with bargaining, no contract n No faculty contract in state

Research University

Source: ASA Research analysis of U.S. Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Faculty Salary Data, 2019-20..

And that’s not all—the presence alsois:isInrelated the Whatofisunions apparent almosttoevery closure of pay gaps between men sector, at public institutions where and women and across racial faculty collectively bargain, facultygroups, earn more money. Only liberal arts institutions, 1. Vidal, M. (2013). Inequality and the In almost every sector, at public and protection from gender- and which comprise 1 percent of faculty, are exceptions. growth of bad jobs. Contexts, 12(4): institutions where faculty collecrace-based discrimination.² For 70-72 tively bargain, earn more example, unionized areearn about Across the board, facultyinstitutions with unions $6,000 more,faculty on average, than 2. Rosenfeld, J & Kleykamp, M. (2012). money. Only liberal arts institutions, more likely to have larger shares those working without contracts in similar states with collective bargaining. They Organized labor and racial wage which comprise 1% of faculty, are of female faculty in full professor earn about $14,000 more than faculty in states without collective bargaining. inequality in the United States. exceptions. positions.³ Additional research also American Journal of Sociology, shows that unionsoccurs benefitinindividuals’ 117(5): 1460-1502.

The largest difference public 2-year institutions, Across thewhere board,faculty facultyatwith health and relationships, provide unions $6,000 more, on institutions with collectively bargained contracts earn earn aboutabout $18,000, or 30 percent, 3. May, A.M., Moorhouse, E.A., & protection against poverty-inducing Bossard, J.A. (2010). Representation average, than those working without more than those working in the same states without collectively bargaining events, and decrease the risk of of women faculty at public research contracts in similar states with colcontracts.

Meanwhile, the union advantage is $15,000 at comprehensive institutions political and socioeconomic disenuniversities: do unions matter? lective bargaining. They earn about and $8,000 at research/doctoral-granting institutions.

Industrial and Labor Relations franchisement.⁴ ⁵ $14,000 more than faculty in states Review, 63(4): July 2010. Retrieved without collective bargaining.

Figure 1 uses full-time faculty from http://digitalcommons.ilr.

1 Vidal, M. (2013). Inequality and the growth of bad jobs. Contexts, 12(4): 70-72. cornell.edu/ilrreview/vol63/iss4/8. salary data, collected and published 2 Rosenfeld, J & Kleykamp, M. (2012). Organized labor and racial wage inequalityThe in the United States.

American Journal of Sociology, largest difference occurs in 117(5): 1460-1502. by the federal government, to 4. Reynolds, M.M., Brady, D. (2012). public two-year institutions, where 3 May,show A.M., Moorhouse, E.A.,faculty & Bossard, salaries J.A. (2010). Representation of women faculty at public research universities: do unions matter? average for Bringing you more than the faculty at institutions with collecIndustrial and Labor Relations Review, 63(4): July 2010. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/ilrreview/vol63/iss4/8. weekend: union membership and public institutions in 2018-19: first, tively bargained contracts about 4 Reynolds, M.M., Brady, D. (2012). Bringing you more than the weekend: union membership and self-rated health in the earn United States.

Social self-rated health in the United with collective bargaining Forces, 90(3):faculty March, 1023-1049.

Doi: https:/www.jstor.org/stable/41682687. $18,000—or 30%—more than those States. Social Forces, 90(3): March, agreements; second, without faculty 5 Brady, D., Baker, R.S., Finnigan, R. (2012).

When unionization disappears: state-level unionization and working poverty in the United Sates.

1023-1049. Doi: https:/jstor.org/ working in the same states without American Sociologicalbargaining Review, 78(5): 8720896 Doi: 10.11770003122413501859. collective agreements stable/41682687. collectively bargaining contracts. but located in the same state as Meanwhile, the union advantage 5. Brady, D. Baker, R.S., Finnigan, institutions with faculty unions; and R. (2012). When unionization is $15,000 at comprehensive third, in states without any faculty disappears: state-level unionization institutions and $8,000 at research/ FROM THE FACULTY SALARY ANALYSIS: poverty 2019-20, PUBLISHED IN 2021 collective bargaining agreements. and working in the United doctoral-granting institutions.

States. American Sociological _________________ Review, 78(5): 8720896 Doi: 10.11770003122413501859.

MEA VOICE 19

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Union Caucus in Ann Arbor Targets Special Education Issues Four years ago, MEA member Dr.. Tracy Loveland joined with a fellow Ann Arbor school psychologist to bring the union’s strength to bear on frustrations within the district’s special education department, which were contributing to high staff turnover.

“We were struggling to have a voice,” Loveland said. “We didn’t know how to express our concerns or make changes or implement things differently. We were just kind of silently muddling through.”

The two school psychologists approached local union leaders, and a special education caucus of the Ann Arbor Education Association was born. But it was too late to save Loveland’s colleague, who quit shortly afterward.

That was when Christy Yee, a 19-year occupational therapist (OT) in the district, got a phone call. “I worked with the other school psychologist, and she said, ‘I’m taking a different position—I can’t do this anymore. Would you take over as co-chair of the caucus?’ Of course I jumped on it, but we’ve lost a lot of really good staff.”

Arbor ever since the special ed caucus was made within the union, Yee said: “The benefits of what I can do and be and advocate for kids and for my services is just so much greater with having the union behind me.”

The caucus has helped to address high-priority problems in the department that contribute to dysfunction and employee dissatisfaction, including inconsistent procedures across district buildings, poor communication, lack of access to resources, and workload issues, Loveland and Yee said.

They are the kinds of struggles making the special educator shortage an even worse crisis than the overall educator shortage nationwide. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, 49 states and the District of Columbia are reporting special educator shortages.

The lack of candidates to fill special education openings affects 98 percent of school districts nationwide at a time when the population of children in need of services continues to grow, the Education Department data show.

Issues that have plagued the special education department are not necessarily unique to Ann Arbor, says Yee, the district’s lead OT. Layers of bureaucracy governing services for students with disabilities—from the federal, state and district levels—challenge teaching and ancillary staff everywhere.

“One thing that the leadership of the AAEA did was they started coming to our monthly meetings, and once they realized all of the stuff that was plaguing us they said, ‘Wow. We need a special ed person on the bargaining team,’” Yee said.

“We never had that before, but it’s a necessary thing.

What is unique is the targeted approach to solving problems in Ann

“As they’re learning what people’s lived realities are, it’s had an

20 OCTOBER 2021

influence on our contract. To have a seat at the table is huge.”

Members of the caucus now meet monthly with the district’s executive director for special education with the opportunity for any member to submit questions via Google doc.

In just three years that the caucus has operated, multiple administrators have moved through the role, and the turnover creates uncertainty.

“This gives us a way to respectfully push back when needed,” Loveland said. “We are the ground troops, so to speak, and we have experience that we can give voice to—whether it’s the issues affecting us or ideas for how to do things more effectively.”

The caucus has been so successful that another was inspired to form, said AAEA President Fred Klein.

This year a new caucus of special area teachers is similarly engaging its members within the union to lift their voices and concerns with district leaders.

“Special area” includes music, physical education, art, and library/ media at the elementary level and those subjects plus other electives at the secondary level. Like their special education counterparts, special area teachers have unique concerns that sometimes get lost within the larger union of educators.

“We think it’s a really good model that can help resolve more issues that members are having specific to their discipline,” Klein said. “Because these people are more informed, they get the speaking parts when it’s time to speak up. The great thing

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

Dr. Tracy Loveland (L), a school psychologist, and Occupational Therapist Christy Yee co-chair the Special Education Caucus of the Ann Arbor Education Association.

situations or changes they knew nothing about.

Among the most important changes has been strengthening the understanding of special education staff about what their rights are, the pair agreed.

for me, as president, is it has taken some of the workload off of me.”

said. “It’s just been very well-executed and successful.”

Made up of 24 occupational therapists, 13 school psychologists, more than 60 speech and language pathologists, several nurses, plus resource room teachers, self-contained teachers and teacher consultants, the special education caucus has claimed several successes in its first few years.

Some protocols have been established to improve communication and clarify procedures and expectations for special educators, Loveland and Yee said. The improved clarity has also helped to reduce tensions between special education and general education staff, because people know where to direct questions.

For one, Klein noted, the caucus succeeded in creating “district leads” among various Non-Certificated Professional Staff (NCPS) roles— which are the non-teaching professional staff in the department—and those new positions include stipends.

Communication has similarly been improved with parents now that a caucus representative attends meetings between administration and a parent advocacy group to ensure everyone gets the same information at the same time.

“Also, at one time the nurses had some issues that were unique to nurses, so they sort of subcommitteed that through the caucus and got a place at the negotiating table to resolve some of those issues,” Klein

Problems had been occurring with administrative information being shared with parents ahead of staff, so members would be blindsided by questions or comments from community members about

For example, when caseloads exceed recommended limits, a grievance can be filed. For NCPS, who had been lumped into the teacher evaluation system even though their jobs look nothing like teaching, evaluation tools have now been changed to reflect their professional roles through their professional organizations.

Many in the caucus were surprised to learn that bargaining prohibitions enacted by Republican lawmakers against teachers in recent years did not apply to NCPS, so placement, layoff and recall, discipline, and discharge can still be negotiated and grieved.

“It has been empowering to learn and inform our special education members about what their rights are and that they have a voice and a place to advocate through the union for their students and for the stability they need,” Yee said.

MEA VOICE 21

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

A Big Bold Thanks to the Mighty MEA

by Carolyn Matzinger, MEA‑Retired

Let me say with full-throated enthusiasm thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the support the MEA gave me to prevail against an unjust decision about my qualifications for non-duty disability retirement due to my Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).

My case was an outlier in some ways. Before I began teaching, I had two other careers: hotel sales and American Red Cross Blood Services management. Toss in service in the U.S. Peace Corps in the Philippines, volunteering for a summer on a kibbutz in Israel, travel to 39 states and 18 countries, and I was proud to “bring the world” to my classroom.

Starting teaching at the age of 42

gave me a rich set of experiences to share with my students.

When at the age of 54 I was diagnosed with CLL, it was a huge shock! I learned that more men than women get this form of incurable cancer and the average age of diagnosis is 70, so how did I get this? My head was full of questions and my heart full of worry. It was really tough to break the news to our child Grace, my family and students.

My doctors told me to keep active, keep teaching and to avoid being around people with colds, to focus on getting enough rest, and if I fell ill, take plenty of time to stay home and recover. Easier said than done for a teacher!

Carolyn Matzinger The next year of teaching went pretty well. My CLL slowly progressed, as expected. What was new was that every time I became ill with a respiratory infection, it took longer and longer to recover. Stress levels and fatigue increased and my beloved students started to feel like individual vectors of disease.

MEA Help Carries Member Through Twists and Turns MEA member Carolyn Matzinger had no idea the union could help her make a case for disability retirement benefits after a progressive illness made it dangerous for her to return to her Petoskey classroom.

Home Depot led her to call MEA’s area field office for assistance. Little did she know the process would take another three years, involve multiple appeals, and eventually lead to an Ingham County Circuit Court ruling.

workplace is the major difference between the two, according to Karen Schneider, an attorney with the White Schneider firm who represented Matzinger in her disability case on behalf of MEA.

For two years she had received some long-term disability insurance benefits, which were running out, and her application for permanent disability retirement had been denied by the state Office of Retirement Services (ORS).

For school employees who become disabled before reaching retirement age, two types of early retirement exist: duty and non-duty disability. To win in either case, an applicant must prove he or she is totally and permanently disabled.

Then an impromptu chat with her local union president in the aisles of

Whether the disability occurred on the job or is unrelated to the

Matzinger applied for nonduty disability for her Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) because the illness impairs her immune system, making her susceptible to debilitating respiratory illnesses that would further weaken her immune system and cause her leukemia to advance.

22 OCTOBER 2021

#UnionStrong ENGAGEMENT BARGAINING ADVOCACY JUSTICE EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT

In the fall of 2015, school started with promise and I was hopeful.

But after five weeks I felt a cold coming on, and by Friday, Oct. 12 I just knew my goose was cooked.

The bout of bronchitis I developed was extremely severe and went on and on (and on). By the third week, I was still gravely ill and my doctor said I should not return to the classroom. Repeatedly becoming ill, and needing antibiotics and steroids to recover, was doing irreparable damage to my body.

You can imagine how awful I felt! Coughing, sleeping poorly, unmoored and adrift from my classroom, financial and retirement plans in total disarray—I was a physical and emotional wreck! My

The ORS sends cases for review to an Independent Medical Advisor (IMA). When Matzinger’s first application was denied by the IMA, Schneider requested an administrative hearing and submitted further medical and scientific evidence to show why she could not return to teaching.

The case was sent for another review, but it went back to the same IMA—who made the same decision again without addressing additional information submitted, Schneider said.

home is two blocks from my school and I passed it every day. I missed my students!

from the same doctor, Karen helped me ask the MEA for more help, and yes, we prevailed.

But then the MEA stepped in in three important ways. First, our local Petoskey Education Association had bargained for teachers to be able to donate sick time, and with many generous gifts of sick days I bridged from short-term to long-term disability.

The best part of this experience for me was to know that my case changed the system and now if an appeal is rejected, a different medical professional is tasked with the review. That fact means a great deal to me. And yes, the retroactive benefit money was welcomed to my family’s coffers.

Secondly, the MEA provided the stellar legal services of Karen Schneider, from the White Schneider law firm. Karen not only provided me with excellent legal advice but helped me push through repeated rejections of my appeal. I could breathe a little easier. And when we received a third review and rejection

She protested the violation of procedural due process, and the case went for a third review. Remarkably it was sent to the same doctor a third time, who rejected it a third time, and the only alternative was an appeal to Ingham County Circuit Court, Schneider said.

The judge ruled the retirement system’s procedures were constitutionally inadequate and appeals should be reviewed by an unbiased and impartial decision maker. As a result, Matzinger’s case was reviewed by a doctor with expertise

Thank you again. I’d like to end with a quote that has great meaning for me. “To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

in blood cancers who reversed the earlier decisions, and she soon began receiving benefits retroactive to the start of her application.

Most individuals don’t have the wherewithal to fight big systems of government alone—especially faced with health struggles at the same time, Schneider said. “Most people would throw up their hands and say, ‘I give up.’

“But for MEA going to bat for these individuals, I don’t know what they would do financially. Time is not on their side, but fortunately MEA is.”

MEA VOICE 23

MEMBER AT WORK

#MiEdChamp: Mattawan Math Teacher Takes on National Role MEA member Kevin Dykema uses an analogy about Global Positioning Systems—the ubiquitous online maps that help us find our way—to explain his philosophy about teaching math.

“Your GPS usually gives you three options to get to the final destination,” he says. “Some of them may take you a little bit longer, but they all bring you to the same place. How many of us value that ability of students who go a different way?”

What’s more, stepping back to take a big-picture view of the map with beginning and ending locations, and various alternative routes between them, offers students a better understanding of where they are and where they’re headed than giving them one-way directions in a list of step-by-step turns.

“When I let my students talk and start to make some of their own understanding first, the way they see problems is different than how I see the problems, and they start to make connections they might not have seen in the past,” Dykema said.

That idea of valuing students’ sense-making and “productive struggle” over memorization of math procedures and facts is at the core of Dykema’s classroom practice as an eighth-grade math teacher in Mattawan. It also is central to a book he co-authored which was published

by Corwin last year.

24 OCTOBER 2021

For him, establishing relationships and trust with students is key to creating math connections, understanding, and confidence as students learn to engage in struggle to make sense. He strives to understand their “math identities” to focus on building from what they know and can do— rather than fixing what they don’t know and can’t yet do.

“Success breeds success,” he said.

“When we get our students to start to feel confident with what they’re doing, they’re that much more willing to persevere the next time.”

Starting this fall, and for the next four years, Dykema will take that message and more to a national stage. Last spring, he became only the third K-12 classroom teacher in 50 years to be elected president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)—a 70,000-member professional organization—after leadership roles at the Michigan affiliate and on the NCTM board of directors.

Starting now in his first year as half-time president-elect of NCTM, in the following two years as full-time president, and during a one-year half-time wind-down as past president, Dykema will convey the non-profit’s policy positions to policymakers and members.

He also looks forward to bringing a K-12 classroom teacher’s viewpoint to the national leadership role most often filled by college-level

math professors or district-level math consultants—all of whom bring important views and voices to the table.

But especially on the issue of equity in math—the subject of his passionate advocacy—Dykema brings a broad view of equity and a ground-level perspective on how to pursue it. Classroom educators must be part of the conversation about how their teaching practice impacts each student, he argues.

“When we talk about pursuing equity, we often think of students of color, but it’s also about students with low socioeconomic status, it’s gender-questioning students, it’s students in special education. We all have equity issues we need to address in our schools, so the question becomes what can I—as a classroom teacher—do to help address some of those issues?”

A first-generation college graduate in his family, Dykema holds a master’s degree in math education from Western Michigan University, where he has taught courses for pre-service teachers. Because of his election to NCTM leadership, his Van Buren County district changed his job to consultant this year.

He was excited to coach new and early career Mattawan teachers on tips and strategies for reaching every student. That starts with helping students explore their math identities—those experiences and beliefs

When we first learn to swim or play an instrument, struggle is expected.

Persevering through challenge should also be at the core of learning and growth in the math classroom, according to a new book co-authored by MEA member Kevin Dykema, an eighth-grade math teacher in Mattawan, along with John J. SanGiovanni and Susie Katt.

Published by Corwin in 2020, Productive Math Struggle: A 6-Point Action Plan for Fostering Perseverance offers concrete tasks, activities and tools to implement an equitable teaching framework that values, fosters, plans for, builds, supports and reflects on students’ struggle for understanding.

“In the book we offer a variety of different strategies to help develop that good sense of productive struggle,” says Dykema, who became president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in September.

“Productive struggle is not a magical thing that just naturally occurs, but in doing that work we can lead our students to true understanding.”

that make up their attitude toward the subject—which can be strengthened, he says.

again in March when the curriculum calls for taking on even more complex equations.

Growing up, Dykema says he was a good math student and “great rule memorizer” who didn’t understand a lot of what he was doing. It wasn’t until he started teaching that he realized the value of using manipulatives so students could see multiple solutions and truly grasp concepts rather than rules.

“But if we allow our kids the opportunity to struggle, and provide supports to get them to the understanding stage, that may take two days in September. But when we hit November, we’re building on it. They truly understand, so it’s a vibrant refresher, not reteaching the whole lesson from scratch.”

Dykema is a frequent presenter at national, state and local conferences, and he often hears from teachers who worry they don’t have enough time to linger over concepts with so much curriculum to cover. But he argues teaching for understanding saves time in the long run.

For too long, educators have felt that a lesson is failing if students are struggling to understand, but Dykema argues the opposite.

Learning happens during struggle, so that is a good place for “teacher moves,” he says.

For example, if a middle school class covers integers in one lesson in September, that lesson would need to be retaught in November when it’s time to solve equations with positives and negatives, and

“Think about how a kid learns to play a video game. They don’t read the directions. They just dive in, get started. When they reach a point where they get stuck, that’s when they go search the internet, try to find a help code, try to find whatever

to figure it out. But we don’t do that in a math classroom.”

Learning to spot the difference between productive and non-productive struggle takes time and experience, he says. Getting students to engage in productive struggle requires relationship-building and planning.

Educators need more and better professional development, he argues.

For real shifts in practice to occur, they need PD that is content-specific, and they need time over the course of a year to focus on one thing and reflect on their struggles with colleagues engaged in the same work.

“That’s one of my goals over the next few years—helping bring that classroom-level focus to the forefront so classroom teachers have a say in where we’re headed and start to see themselves as potential leaders.”

MEA VOICE 25

REGION ELECTION INFORMATION 18 Following is a description of the election procedures to be followed in the regions. This process complies with relevant federal laws. (See positions to be elected following this section.)

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Election dates for regions using online voting are 8 a.m., Tuesday, March 1, 2022 through 3:59 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Election dates for regions using paper ballots 1. The region at-large election shall be conducted on March 1, 2 and 3, 2022.

2. If your unit is not scheduled to work during the above days, the election shall be conducted on March 8, 9 and 10, 2022.

3. If inclement weather or another emergency interrupts the election listed above, it shall be completed on the next consecutive workday(s), but no later than March 24.

The candidates for the region at-large positions shall be printed in the February edition of the MEA Voice.

Persons interested in running for a position should contact their region elections chairperson or nominations chair.

If a region does not have a December meeting they cannot use acclamation. In order to elect by acclamation, there must be a quorum.

Absentee balloting (From the Region Council Constitution, Article VIII, Sec. 3.f.) The region at-large election is an on-site 26 OCTOBER 2021

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election. However, eligible voters who are not able to vote on site during the election period may notify their local association president of their need to vote by absentee ballot. The request must be in writing, include the specific reason necessitating an absentee ballot and be received no later than Feb. 21 by the local association president.

Eligible voters requesting an absentee ballot and complying with the above requirements shall be mailed an absentee ballot by the local

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association election committee. An absentee ballot must be returned by U.S. mail and received by the local association no later than the last day of the election. Late absentee ballots shall be unopened and set aside as void ballots.

Eligible voters Voter eligibility listings will be created from information received by the MEA Membership Department from the local associations by Feb. 7, 2022.

REGION ELECTION INFORMATION Attention ESP members—2022 Region 50 statewide election for ESP only ESP members of the MEA are entitled to send delegates to the National Education Association Representative Assembly. Next year, the RA will be held in Dallas, TX. Expenses to attend the NEA convention are reimbursed in accordance with the adopted state delegate expense policy.

All Michigan ESP candidates for NEA statewide at-large delegate seats run as delegates for Region 50.

All Michigan ESP members vote as part of Region 50 in electing their statewide at-large delegates to the NEA RA. The NEA procedures require that these statewide delegates and alternates be elected by secret ballot. Elections will be conducted at the region level and

the results forwarded to the MEA for the final election count.

Each nominated candidate may submit a biographical statement of no more than 150 words to be printed and distributed with the ballots to the regions. Statements must be in paragraph form and will be printed as received by Dec. 31, 2021. Photos and lists will not be printed for regions using paper ballots. However, pictures can be submitted and used for regions participating in the online elections. Statements to be emailed to mostertag@mea.org, or mailed to the MEA Executive Office c/o Mike Ostertag, PO Box 2573, East Lansing, MI 48826-2573.

Any MEA ESP member in good standing is eligible to be nominated or may nominate himself/herself at the region nominations meeting or by using the nomination form below.

Additional forms may be obtained from your region president or region election chairperson. A candidate’s consent must be secured before that name is placed on any ballot. The form should be mailed directly to Mike Ostertag at MEA Headquarters no later than Dec. 31, 2021.

Nominations received after Dec. 31, 2021 will not be accepted.

If you have any questions, contact your region elections chairperson, or call Mike Ostertag at MEA Headquarters 800-292-1934, ext. 5411, before Dec. 15, 2021.

Region 50—NEA Representative Assembly, ESP Delegate At Large Nomination Form Supply the following information regarding the nominee. Remember, the consent of a candidate must be secured before that name is placed on any ballot.

Biographical statements of no more than 150 words may be submitted.

Statement must be in paragraph form. Lists are not accepted.

Pictures will not be accepted for regions using paper ballots. Pictures will be accepted for regions participating in the online elections.

Nomination form must be received no later than Dec. 31, 2021. Mail to: Mike Ostertag, MEA PO Box 2573, East Lansing, MI 48826-2573.

Nomination forms received after Dec. 31, 2021 will not be accepted.

The named candidate is nominated for the following position(s): ▢ ESP NEA RA at-large delegate; 1 position, immediate thru 8/31/23 ▢ ESP NEA RA at-large delegate; 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 ▢ ESP NEA RA at-large delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g): 2 positions*, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 PLEASE PRINT NAME HOME ADDRESS CITY

STATE

HOME PHONE

WORK PHONE

ZIP

LOCAL ESP ASSOCIATION

MEA VOICE 27

Region Election Information—Positions to be Elected REGION 2 Position 1-MEA Board of Director/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 2 positions*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/24 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Dave Daly, mrddaly@gmail.com

REGION 3 Position-MEA Board of Director/NEA RA Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 28 OCTOBER 2021

3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 4 positions, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12 -EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 13-EA NEA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Jim Brousseau, jbrousseau@mea.org

REGION 4 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 2 positions*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 7-EA/ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Ross Williams, dad2kobe@yahoo.com

REGION 5 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/22 3 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22, same seats as above 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 2 positions*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 4/1/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 4/1/22 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate

Region Election Information—Positions to be Elected 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 4/1/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 4/1/22 Elections Chair: Mary Cooper, mcooper@mymea.org

REGION 6 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 5-EA NEA RA At-Large Delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Cara Konicek, ckonicek@mymea.org

REGION 7 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 3-MEA RA At-Large Delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 3 positions*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 5-EA NEA RA At-Large Delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23

Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above 1 position, immed, thru 8/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 2 positions*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Robert Gaines, rg4esp@gmail.com

REGION 8 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 7-EA/ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22

1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 4 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Marty Leftwich, mleftwich@mea.org

REGION 9 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 2-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 3-MEA RA At-Large Delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 2 positions*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24

MEA VOICE 29

Region Election Information—Positions to be Elected Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/24 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 4 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position* immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 5 positions, immed. thru 3/31/24 2 positions*, immed. thru 3/31/24 Elections Chair: Not Available

REGION 10 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 30 OCTOBER 2021

Elections Chair: Kevyn Welter, kweltr@gmail.com

REGION 11 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 7-EA/ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Toni Scribner, tscribner@mymea.org

REGION 12 Position 7-EA/ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22

Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Jenny Oster, jjvandui@svsu.edu

REGION 13 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 4/1/22 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 9-EA MEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23

Region Election Information—Positions to be Elected Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 3 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Sally Purchase, sally.purchase@gmail.com

REGION 14 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 2 positions*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 3 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23

Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Region 14 MAHE EA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Region 14 MAHE EA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Greta Brock, gbrock@mea.org

REGION 15 Position 4-MEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 2 positions, immed. thru 8/31/24 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Elections Chair: Not Available

REGION 16 Position 6-EA NEA RA At-Large Alternate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 10-ESP MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Position 14-ESP NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, immed. thru 8/31/23 Elections Chair: Al Beamish, abeamish@mymea.org

REGION 17 Position 1-MEA Board of Directors/ NEA RA Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 11-ESP MEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22

1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Position 15-ESP NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Lisa Carubini, lisacarubini@gmail.com

REGION 18 Position 8-EA MEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Position 12-EA NEA RA Cluster Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/22 1 position*, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22, same seat as above Position 13-EA NEA RA Cluster Alternate 2 positions, immed. thru 3/31/23 1 position*, immed. thru 3/31/23 Region 18 MAHE Cluster Alternate 1 position, immed. thru 3/31/23 Elections Chair: Steve Elenich, selenich@copperisd.org

REGION 50 Region 50-ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate 1 position*, immed. thru 8/31/23 Region 50-ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate 1 position, 3 yr. term begins 9/1/22 Region 50-ESP NEA RA At-Large Delegate-Representing Minority 3-1(g) 2 positions*, 3 yr. terms begin 9/1/22 KEY: * is used to represent a Representative of Minority 3-1(g) seat

MEA VOICE 31

Why MESSA’s fully covering COVID treatment through 2021 The first few months of the school year are already stressful for teachers, school support staff and parents; given the rise in COVID-19 due to the highly contagious Delta variant, this school year has been even more fraught with fear and uncertainty.

MESSA believes the people who care for our kids and our schools deserve exceptional health benefits, unmatched personal service, and the peace of mind that comes with it—especially now.

That’s why we are fully covering all medically necessary treatment for COVID-19 through Dec. 31, 2021. That means through the end of 2021, you’ll pay no deductibles, copayments or coinsurance for medically necessary COVID-19 treatment for yourself or your covered dependents, when performed at an in-network provider. The safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is also available at no cost for those 12 and older.

By Ross Wilson, MESSA Executive Director

Of course, we urge everyone to mask up, practice social distancing and do everything else they can to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. But if you happen to get sick, we want you to know that MESSA is here for you.

Learn more at messa.org/covid19.

NEW MEA SWAG AVAILABLE To accompany the new MEA logo, several items have been made available on the new MEA online store, such as: • • • • • • •

Masks Ball caps Beanies T-shirts Polo shirts Jackets Pens and pencils

• • • • • • • •

Mugs Stickers Luggage tags Lanyards Rulers Tote Bags Frisbees Koozies

All items are made in the USA with some by union vendors.

Most items are available in red or blue, and all apparel is available in men’s and women’s styles. All prices include shipping.

Visit mea.org/merchandise to see options and to place your order.

32 OCTOBER 2021

Coverage you can depend on for the ones you love.

As an eligible NEA member,* you’ve got the protection of NEA Complimentary Life Insurance, issued by

Visit neamb.com/protect to learn about all the solutions available

The Prudential Insurance Company of America —

to help meet your

but you should name a beneficiary to make sure your

insurance needs.

loved ones are covered. Go to neamb.com/free-tote and register your beneficiary to get this FREE tote.

FREE

Or call 1-855-NEA-LIFE (632-5433) and mention offer code: TOTE BAG * Visit us online or call for eligibility requirements.

NEA Members Insurance Trust is a registered trademark of the NEA Members Insurance Trust.

NEA Complimentary Life Insurance is issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, N.J. 0302614-00002-00

DT251021

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Jennifer Shelito is secretary of the Information Systems department

at Tuscola Intermediate School District where she helps to manage a 17-district phone system, internet service for 26 districts, and training on all of that—plus data systems—for educators in the region. She helps people who’ve forgotten login credentials, voicemail pins, and how to get test scores to populate in the gradebook.

“When I first moved to my current position, I saw three computer monitors in front of my desk, and I thought, What am I going to do with three monitors? Now I’m like, ‘I need another monitor.

I don’t have enough monitors.’”

You’re president of your local unit representing clerical, office, paraeducator and transportation employees.

How did you get involved with the union? “I always call myself a union brat. I grew up in the union.

My mom worked at the ISD where I work. She was a bus driver and a local leader and then she moved to be a UniServ director. I can remember when I was little going to informational pickets and seeing her go to MEA RA’s (representative assemblies), NEA RA’s, trainings. As I got older, she would go across the country doing trainings, and she was so well-respected and knowledgeable. I wanted to be like her. I served two terms as vice president, then became president in 2019. I’m still the MEA-NEA Region 11 delegate, and I love going to RA’s. I’m coordinating council delegate, and I’m treasurer of the coordinating council.

I don’t know—I’ve always wanted to give a voice to the ones who don’t have a voice, and it seems to me ESP don’t have a voice all the time.”

You recently completed an MEA virtual book study, discussing the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Dr. Robin DiAngelo.

Why did you want to participate? “Growing up here in the Thumb, there wasn’t any diversity.

Then I went to private Christian school when I went away to college,

34 OCTOBER 2021

and there still was not a lot of diversity. I realized that I have some biases I needed to work on, even though my mom worked very hard at making sure my brother and I grew up respecting everybody.

I wanted to work on becoming a better person.”

After going through the book study as a participant, you agreed to co-facilitate another session, alongside a teacher.

What led you to do that? “I am not an outgoing person. Put me in front of kids, and I’m usually OK, but put me in front of my own peers or my own age group, and it’s terrifying.

But I’m realizing that growth only happens when we step out of our comfort zones. When I heard (MEA) was looking for someone to do it, I emailed and said, ‘I’d be willing.’”

How did it go? “By the end, I was still a little terrified facilitating, but I would do it again because I learned so much more going through it the second time than I thought I would.

It was all women in our group, from all over the state, and we had amazing conversations. It was very enlightening, and it made me realize I’m not alone, that there are other people going on the same walk and struggling with the same things, and that it’s OK, as long as I keep working on it and looking for answers.”

What did you learn from the book? “Before I read this book, when I heard the term white

Jennifer Shelito

supremacy, I thought of the KKK or neo-Nazis and the horrible things those individuals or groups did. But Dr. DiAngelo explains that it’s a descriptive term not for individual actions but for a political, economic and social system of domination.

It’s the system that gives me more privilege as a white woman than my friends who are people of color.

White privilege is white supremacy.”

What’s your biggest takeaway?

“I think the biggest idea I took away is that racism and especially white fragility is not for a person of color to combat. Racism is not their issue.

It is our issue. For white people, it is our issue to call out other white people to say, ‘That’s not cool. You shouldn’t be doing that, or that situation is not right,’ because if we stay silent, then the cycle just continues.”

• Auto Insurance

Protection, security and the coverage you deserve is a click or a call away, today and every day.

Requesting an insurance quote or reporting a claim, getting tips on how to reduce your premiums or to schedule and expand your coverage, we’re here for you. For your peace of mind and protection, MEA Financial Services offers a complete line of property and casualty and life insurance to safeguard all that’s important to you and your family.

• Home Owners Insurance • Group Term Life Insurance • Individual Term Life Insurance • Commercial Insurance and Bonds

All this and much more is available to you by logging on to www.meafs.com. Of course, you can also call us toll-free at 1-800-292-1950.

www.meafs.com

(800) 292-1950

WE KNOW THIS IS A TOUGH TIME.

We’re here for you.

As a nonprofit founded and governed by school employees, we at MESSA understand the challenges and stressors facing educators and school support staff — especially now. Here’s what we’re doing to help provide you peace of mind: •

100% COVID-19 coverage through 2021*

•

Free wellness and stress management programs

•

Free Blue Cross Online Visits through Dec. 31, 2021

Learn about these and other member-exclusive programs at messa.org or call us at 800-336-0013.

We’re here to help. *When medically necessary services rendered by an in-network provider.

Visit messa.org/findcare to find an in-network provider.