MEA Voice Magazine - April 2020 Issue

Solving Educator Shortages

EDUCATORS OF COLOR SHARE IDEAS Page 13

April–May 2020 | Vol. 97 | Issue 4 | mea.org

LATEST INFORMATION: mea.org/coronavirus

LETTER TO MEMBERS

Dear MEA family: Please note that most of this issue of the Voice was put together before the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent school closures. MEA will keep you apprised of developments— stay tuned to mea.org/coronavirus, as well as MEA’s Facebook page.

As we write this letter to you, we’re in unprecedented times—and with an unclear view of what may be yet to come.

For us, today is the first day of statewide school closures due to the new coronavirus which has spread across the globe and threatened to overwhelm our health care system with too many critically ill people at once.

This issue of the magazine was scheduled to head for the printer on Friday, March 13—but late on March 12, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced she would close schools to help slow the spread of the virus and hopefully protect our health and our hospitals.

in constant communication with the governor’s office and Michigan Department of Education to ensure educator voices are part of decisions being made.

As circumstances changed rapidly, our local leaders and staff worked to ensure district decisions were made in consultation with local unions and with an understanding of employees’ needs.

Issues arose that MEA leaders and staff undertook to solve, such as ensuring the safety of employees required to report to work, adjustments to the school calendar, and protecting the rights of members who become ill or need to care for loved ones.

from your union, including the important elections coming this fall.

We can’t adequately express our admiration and gratitude for the work that our members do every day—but especially when difficult problems arise like what we are dealing with today.

We have witnessed educators from elementary through higher education who scrambled to provide distance learning alternatives where possible—with the understanding that none of it can replace the faceto-face education students are missing (especially for those with special needs or struggling with poverty).

We are committed to using the collective bargaining process in a collaborative way that balances the needs of districts, employees, parents, communities, public health and the students we serve.

Then there are our education support professionals. From school custodians to bus drivers to secretaries to food service workers and beyond, our ESP colleagues have proved yet again why they’re an essential part of providing a great education to our students.

Just like you, we pressed ahead when the governor issued the order.

Our lobbyists and legal department worked on solutions to ensure school employees continued to get paid during the closure. We’re

MEA will do everything in our power to keep you informed and to represent the interests of our members throughout this challenging time. For updates, visit mea.org/coronavirus. MEA also remains committed to continuing to communicate and advocate on all fronts that you’ve come to expect

Thank you for doing what you can to make our schools clean and safe and keep our students fed and connected to support. It’s what we do as educators—and union sisters and brothers. And it’s why we can stand here at the edge of the unknown and say with certainty—together we will weather this crisis.

Paula J. Herbart President

Chandra A. Madafferi Vice President

Brett R. Smith Secretary-Treasurer

We delayed deadline by one day to adjust some content and communicate with you even though we can’t see a few weeks into the future to know what will be happening when this magazine arrives in your home.

We can tell you what is always true— MEA is here for you, listening, and advocating for your needs. And we will get through this together.

CONTENTS

4 Editor’s Notebook Being Intentional 6 News & Notes Golf Outing 10 Issues & Advocacy Shortage Solutions 24 Election 2020 U.S. Senate Race 28 MEA Elections Statewide Races On the cover: MEA member Angela Pérez discusses her work on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Educator Advisory Council examining how to recruit and retain educators of color (page 13).

9— MEMBER VOICES: Michigan schools could benefit from having a state poet laureate.

20— STRENGTH IN UNION: This well-known MEA staffer is making a big career change.

Executive Director ����������������������Michael Shoudy Director of Public Affairs ������������������� Doug Pratt Editor ������������������������������������������������ Brenda Ortega Staff Photographer �������������������������Miriam Garcia Publications Specialist ��������������� Shantell Crispin

18— MEMBERS AT WORK: This Ann Arbor English teacher’s book of poetry about the year he spent moonlighting as a pizza delivery driver has been named a Michigan Notable Book for 2020.

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: 112,624

26— ISSUES & ADVOCACY: The governor shadowed an MEA member literacy specialist.

34— MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Happy to have MEA, she welcomes new hires to the union.

MEA VOICE 3

NEWS & NOTES

Editor’s Notebook I have been thinking a lot lately about the word “intentional.”

It seems to be becoming a buzzword of our politically divided times which I fear will get overused, worn out, and thrown away with other cultural jargon. But it shouldn’t be cast aside.

Most recently it was said to me during a frank conversation I had with special education teacher Jeremy Frame, who worries that little improvement has been made in diversifying the educator workforce in Michigan over his 17-year career (see Member Voices from the Field, p. 17).

Across the state, 92 percent of K-12 teachers are white, while students of color make up one-third of the children in Michigan classrooms. Nationally, the gap is similar: 80 percent of the U.S. teaching force is white, while 50 percent of children they teach identify as students of color.

The number of free SCECHs available to K-8 teachers in Michigan who complete a 25-minute survey about the Read

by Grade Three law, available through April 10 from researchers at Michigan State University. Find a link to the survey at mea.org/ 5-scechs-for-k-8-teachers.

But at Frame’s district in Farmington, the situation has improved thanks to a growing number of African-American administrators who have been “intentional” about recruiting educators of color.

That matters. Research shows that having a diverse teaching force can help close academic achievement gaps and improve graduation rates.

It’s important that we seek to bring more minority candidates into the profession and let school employees of color know their contributions are valued, according to MEA members interviewed for this issue. In addition, building networks to connect educators of color can reduce isolation.

Again, it’s about examining our profession’s lack of diversity headon and being intentional about how we respond. Otherwise, it’s easy to make excuses for the status quo.

In my work as editor of MEA Voice over the past four years, I know that I must better seek out the contributions of MEA members from a wider swath of racial and ethnic communities.

It has never been my “intention” to exclude any voices from this space, but perhaps I haven’t been intentional enough about seeking more diverse perspectives. These are difficult conversations to have, but we must be open and willing to confront problems to bring change.

We have many issues to address in public education. Fewer people overall are choosing careers in education. We have shortages of teachers, substitutes, para-educators, bus drivers, and more.

Some solutions—such as higher pay and more respect for the profession—will help to alleviate shortages of educators from every racial and ethnic background. In other ways, we must pay extra attention to how we can recruit and retain more educators of color.

That additional—intentional—work will pay off for our students and our world.

4 APRIL–MAY 2020

—Brenda Ortega, editor

QUOTABLES

“People in Macomb County are in favor of providing extra support for kids.

It’s a driver of our economy.”

Dr. Bob Ross, MEA member, professor at University of Detroit Mercy, and school board president of Utica Community Schools, on the March 10 passage of a regional enhancement millage in Macomb Intermediate School District— which will provide an additional $418 per student in 21 school districts for the next 10 years.

NEWS & NOTES

QUOTABLES

Above and Beyond A fanciful watercolor painting titled, “Even Cows Deserve a Vacation, Bovine Beach” won the Best in Show Award at the 56th Annual MEA MAEA Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition. The piece was one of two accepted into the show from MEA‑Retired member Thomas Thiery, a retired art teacher from Adrian. The painting features a dreamy depiction of several black-and-white Holstein cows resting on their sides in the foreground with the carnival rides of the Santa Monica Pier in the background. The scene is centered by the pier’s famous Ferris wheel in the distance, and framed by the sun reflecting off the Pacific Ocean to the left and pastel blue beach umbrellas and chairs next to the cows on the right. “It made an impact,” said juror Daniel Driggs, an Indiana artist who specializes in oil and acrylic paintings. “It brings back memories of carnivals, or if you’ve been in the country and seen cows along the fence, everyone can relate to it. With its use of color and design, it was a beautiful piece.” Thiery taught video production and painting in Adrian for 38 years before retiring in 2005. He has entered the exhibition for 15 years and won Best in Show once before. A prolific painter in his retirement, the 80-year-old quipped, “I’ve got so many ideas that I want to get done before I die, I feel like I can’t waste any time.”

“Retention is the second greatest predictor of school dropout.”

Upper Peninsula superintendents, who signed off on a joint op-ed in Bridge magazine calling for state lawmakers to get rid of a retention mandate taking effect for third graders who do not meet a cut score on the M-STEP this spring.

ICYMI At a chilling 71 percent, Michigan’s percentage drop in enrollment in teacher preparation programs between 2008-2017 is second in the nation only to Oklahoma, according to the latest federal data. This has led to teacher shortages in some parts of the state (in all subjects) and in hard-to fill subjects in all areas of the state. At today’s salaries, it is not economical to get a teaching degree and choose to work as a Michigan teacher. Students simply can’t afford to amass college debt that they can never pay off because their salaries are low and often frozen for years on end.

(See story, p. 10).

MEA VOICE 5

NEWS & NOTES

ETIRING?

UPCOMING EVENTS EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to precautions surrounding the coronavirus, MEA has cancelled some events and conferences to help slow the spread of infection and disease. For the latest information on MEA’s calendar, go to mea.org.

nd with more than 200,000 blic school retirees to serve and protect: Public APRIL Education 17-18 MEA Representative RetireeAssembly Benefits (RA) NOW VIRTUAL & Programs Student Rights In light of the coronavirus outbreak, the in-person meeting of MEA’s highest governing body has been postponed. RA delegates elected from locals around the state will meet virtually to handle urgent business on April 18. An in-person meeting of the RA delegates to dive deeper into policy matters for the upcoming year is tentatively planned for Saturday, Aug. 1, at MSU’s Kellogg Center in East Lansing.

more information on ning MEA-Retired, go to w.mea-retired.org.

MAY 5 Teacher Day/School Family Day

Retiring? Join MEA‑Retired!

If you’re retiring, don’t lose access to MEA and NEA Member Benefits you’ve enjoyed—join MEA-Retired and continue in the fight to preserve public education, ensure school employees’ rights, and protect the retirement benefits you worked hard to earn. You may already be a member if you paid into the All-Inclusive Membership program (AIM) during your active teaching years. For information, contact Lisa Fox at lfox@mea.org.

Nationwide Each year schools and communities observe Teacher Day/School Family Day during National Teacher Appreciation Week with local celebrations that pay tribute to the contributions all school employees make to our communities and society.

JULY 28-30 MEA Summer Conference Saginaw Valley State University, Saginaw Sessions at this MEA conference help association leaders and members learn more about organizing, advocacy, political action, professional development, legal issues, and communications.

For information, go to mea.org/conferences.

6 APRIL–MAY 2020

MEA Scholarship Fund Golf Outing It’s never too early to start thinking about golf! The 20th Annual MEA Scholarship Fund Golf Outing is scheduled for June 15 at the Forest Akers Golf Course in Lansing. The outing raises funds for scholarships given to college-bound students from Michigan public schools.

Golfers will have a shotgun start at 9 a.m. in a four-player scramble format.

A continental breakfast will be served prior to play, and lunch will be provided on the course. A prize drawing and dinner buffet will highlight the program that follows play.

The golf fee is $120 per person and a portion of the fee is tax-deductible. In addition to golf, donations can be made for hole sponsorships, prizes or directly to the MEA Scholarship Fund. The entire amount of these donations is tax-deductible.

Please secure your spot on the green today! Registration forms are available at mea.org/GolfOuting or by contacting Barb Hitchcock at bhitchcock@mea.org.

MY VIEW

Five—My Hope for the Future As we enter statewide standardized testing season, I find myself reflecting on this school year and the series of articles I have written about the Read by Grade Three Law. I think about the main point I wanted to make in sharing my experiences and concerns with the law. It’s this—that ultimately our voices need to be heard and respected for the direct impact we have on our students and their learning.

Real change occurs when courageous people unite in a show of solidarity and speak their truth.

Real change occurs when brave individuals continue to speak their truth in the face of adversity.

Real change occurs when emboldened people agree to sit side by side and acknowledge they have more in common than they have differences, and they are willing to listen to one another to collaboratively solve problems.

Thank you to all of the audacious educators who shared their experiences and feedback this school year with one another, with administrators, with students, parents, and policy makers. You made important contributions to igniting real change.

Advocating for your needs is advocating for your students and

their needs. Our silence about bad policies and systems is viewed as compliance with them. Our children need and deserve better; we are their voice.

As I wrap up this series today, I wonder why lawmakers didn’t see the need to provide schools with the money necessary to provide struggling readers with more resources.

This law is simply about identifying low and struggling readers, telling school districts and teachers to monitor and fix these problems on their own, and doling out the punishment of retention if and when the school district’s plan fails.

Only a small fraction of the money needed is provided to school districts to put resources in place to support these struggling children, such as hiring reading specialists, reducing class sizes, purchasing and providing training on research-based interventions, more intensive summer reading programs, before- and after-school tutoring programs, providing more wrap around services like full‑time social workers, counselors, or school nurses, or many other possible solutions.

Our kids deserve a firm foundation in literacy and that requires a thoughtful plan with the funding for necessary resources. In order to create the best policy and

by Nicole Droscha Third-grade teacher, Mason Public Schools

systems possible, we need all stakeholders’ voices to be heard and respected.

My hope is that in the near future, Michigan students, educators, and families will feel supported. They will not be left alone to solve the literacy issues facing our children.

Real change can and will happen with your help.

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MESSA, Delta Dental award new fountains to dozens of schools MESSA and the Delta Dental Foundation have installed modern water-filling stations in 27 schools across the state this school year as part of the “Rethink Your Drink: Water’s Cool at School” program, providing filtered drinking water to more than 51,000 students and staff.

MESSA and Delta Dental’s aim is to reduce students’ and staff ’s consumption of sugary beverages and instead encourage them to drink more water.

“MESSA is committed to supporting education employees as they look to improve their own health while modeling good examples for their students,” said MESSA Executive Director Ross Wilson. “We hope this initiative can help educate staff and students across Michigan about the negative health impacts of sugar-sweetened beverages like pop, fruit drinks, energy drinks and more.”

Over the past two school years, MESSA and the Delta Dental Foundation have awarded new water-filtration systems to 88 schools in all corners of Michigan.

8 APRIL–MAY 2020

More than 600 schools applied for the program, and winners were selected based on several criteria, including age and condition of their current drinking fountains, creativity of their applications, percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, and geographic location. Winning schools had their drinking fountains replaced with Elkay water fountain/bottle filling stations by Oak Park-based Balfrey & Johnston. The winners also received reusable water bottles for students and staff.

“We know that drinking water is one of the easiest ways to promote the health of our students—in the classroom and on the field,” said Gib Garcia, a teacher and baseball coach at Bay City Central High School, who successfully applied for a grant.

“We’re proud to help get the word out about this campaign to encourage students and our entire school community to choose water over sugary drinks.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that access

to safe, free drinking water helps increase students’ overall water consumption, maintain hydration and reduce their energy intake, when water is substituted for sugar-sweetened beverages. Adequate hydration may also im-prove children’s cognitive function. Fluoridated drinking water can also help prevent cavities.

“The Delta Dental Foundation is proud of our partnerships with MESSA and schools across the state of Michigan to provide increased access to water filtration and bottle filling stations,” said Kim Garland, manager of the Delta Dental Foundation. “We are committed to helping to build healthy, smart and vibrant communities, and setting students up to build healthy habits and make healthy choices is an important part of that.”

MEMBER VOICES

Whitmer Tucks Poetry in Her Budget Proposal

a state‑wide post, with education as the focus, is a natural next step.

By Glen Young English department chair Petoskey High School Educators in Michigan are certainly nodding agreement at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget proposal. We ELA types, however, have an added reason to applaud Whitmer’s plan.

Along with per-pupil funding increases and Early Childhood improvements, Whitmer proposes a line-item for Poet Laureate, a writer “who will travel the state, meeting with teachers and students to promote poetry, the spoken word, and literary arts in a generation of young students.”

Chelsea Lewis, Whitmer’s deputy press secretary, says the appointment of a state laureate “will increase the conversation and appreciation surrounding reading and the writing of poetry.”

This is the proverbial ‘no brainer.’

There is already a tradition of laureates in Michigan. The Upper Peninsula boasts a regional poet, while some cities, such as East Lansing, elect or appoint laureates. Extending the position to

Poet and Michigan State University literature professor Anita Skeen understands the value of appointing a state laureate, which would put “poetry out in front of people.”

Skeen also applauds the idea of concentrating the laureate’s efforts on school activities. “People need to come to poetry earlier in life,” she says, because poetry “teaches them about language; teaches them about empathy; teaches them about diversity.” And if poetry comes to students earlier in their academic experiences, “they’re going to love it their whole lives.”

Michigan is among a dwindling number of states without a laureate.

Currently 46 states have laureates.

New Mexico is the latest to create the position, though as of yet it is unfilled. According to the Library of Congress, Michigan’s last laureate was Edgar Guest, who held the post from 1952-1959.

Poetry proponents do not lack for evidence that verse—all literature in fact—provides therapeutic benefit to those under stress. Nor do we lack evidence every day of the growing numbers of our students plagued by depression, anxiety, or other mental distress. That poetry can help soothe is all the more reason a laureate working in schools is a wise move.

Michigan’s rich literary history, punctuated by the dynamic sounds of contemporary poetry, makes selecting a laureate all the easier.

For example, Detroit’s Inside/ Out Literary Arts collective includes plenty of poets who would make fine candidates. If Governor Whitmer prefers a poet from farther outstate, Northern Michigan University professor Patricia Killelea or Grace Carras, an outstanding spoken word poet from Midland, would also be great choices. There are plenty of worthy writers everywhere from Monroe to Marquette.

Naysayers are likely to decry Whitmer’s idea by claiming the money might be better spent to “fix the damn roads.”

Instead of attacking the governor’s combination of arts and education, however, let’s remember how Lawrence Ferlinghetti tells us in Poetry as Insurgent Art, “The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.”

Our students’ well-being is the critical value on any balance sheet, making the Governor’s proposal to establish a Michigan Poet Laureate a solid response to this call.

Glen Young is secretary of the Petoskey Education Association.

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COVER STORY

Educators Propose Solutions Stories by Brenda Ortega, MEA Voice editor

MEA member Stefanie Sedlar was drawn to become an educator in two ways.

She felt a strong desire to help atrisk kids find their way to success, and she believed a federal loan forgiveness program for teachers would help her “afford” to make less income than other college-educated professionals.

Sedlar recently shared her story at a February press conference to call attention to a new report on how to solve educator shortages in Michigan, jointly funded by MEA, AFT Michigan and Middle Cities Education Association.

The study conducted by Public Policy Associates drew ideas from 120 educators who attended five in-person summits across the state and one online forum. From a wide range of ideas, the report identifies areas of consensus around compensation, respect, and teacher preparation.

Three challenges have converged to create the educator shortage: A lack of diversity in the educator workforce (see story, p. 13); not enough individuals entering the profession; and a churn of experienced educators either leaving the profession or switching districts.

From 2008-2017, enrollment in teacher preparation programs in Michigan universities has plummeted by 70 percent, according to the latest federal data (see chart. p.

5.) Michigan’s percentage drop in enrollment in teacher preparation 10 APRIL–MAY 2020

programs is second only to Oklahoma—a state that has among the least competitive compensation systems.

Sedlar teaches in a shortage area— special education—and has served students in high-need areas over the past decade: Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, and now Mt. Pleasant.

She loves her job and students, but being denied the student loan relief that she was promised weighs heavily on her.

“It’s exhausting and rewarding work, but the loan forgiveness has yet to come,” Sedlar said during the tele-press conference. “Meanwhile the interest on my debt continues to accrue.”

With half of her paycheck going toward student loan debt each month, Sedlar and her husband have put off having children, she said. “If my outstanding student loan debts are not forgiven as promised, we might not be able to afford to start a family.”

Summit participants urged policymakers to increase pay for teachers and support staff to address a decade of declines in inflation-adjusted school funding. Falling take-home pay is often cited as a reason why educators leave the profession and potential newcomers steer away from it.

Improving pay and benefits while reducing the costs of becoming an educator were among the most frequently recommended strategies for recruiting and retaining educators.

Stefanie Sedlar, a special education teacher in Mt. Pleasant, says student loan debt relief is needed to keep educators in the profession.

Student loan forgiveness was among those “monetary” solutions.

Recent news attention has focused on the fact that 99 percent of educators’ applications to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program were denied between May 2018 and May 2019, under U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. “I have one request: Honor the promises made to those preparing tomorrow’s doctors, skilled laborers, engineers and computer programmers for success,” Sedlar said.

While all schools are experiencing troubles in filling open positions,

COVER STORY

to School Staffing Shortages

Heather Gauck, Grand Rapids special education teacher, says educator voices must be respected by policymakers to restore the profession.

schools in rural and lower income areas have been hardest hit by educator shortages, which are most keenly felt in the areas of math, science, foreign language, and special education.

For that reason, equitable funding ranked high on educators’ list of solutions.

“At every session, educators emphasized the need for reforming Michigan’s education funding system by establishing more adequate and equitable resources among school districts,” the report noted.

To diversify the profession, which has been shown to boost student achievement across all student groups, support is needed for targeted recruitment efforts, such as “grow your own” programs and other preparation partnerships in diverse communities.

One example she pointed out was the use of standardized tests in teacher evaluations, which she said unfairly measures teacher effectiveness, narrows the curriculum—sometimes in favor of scripted teaching—and reduces time for actual learning to happen.

Not all of the solutions identified in the report cost money. Many ideas centered around the theme of improving respect for the profession and giving educators a voice in developing policies and solving problems.

“I know the skills my kids need to succeed,” she told reporters. “I need the independence to measure their progress to determine where they’re excelling and where they need extra help.

“A major takeaway from these roundtable discussions was the desire of educators to have a bigger role in the public discussion concerning education reforms,” the report said.

Half of the issues ranked in the top three by educators involved changes to evaluation procedures and standardized testing.

“Policymakers should note that there is intense educator support for greater input into working conditions as well as a strong belief that the current system of using student standardized tests for evaluation needs to be revisited again.”

Grand Rapids special education teacher Heather Gauck joined the press conference to underline the importance of educator voices in the policymaking arena. “Too often it seems like politicians think they know how to run a classroom because they were once a student,” she said.

“We know our kids best. We’re the experts. But instead of being made part of the process, we’re told lawmakers know better. These are often people who haven’t stepped foot in a classroom since they were students.”

Lawmakers need to hit the brakes on testing and new requirements, Gauck said. “Let me do my job, and ask me.”

Educators are rarely asked for input on legislation critical to the success of schools and students, agreed Donna Roark, assistant superintendent for personnel at Niles Community Schools, who participated in the press conference.

“Instead, an increasing percentage of teacher evaluation is tied directly to student achievement,” Roark noted. “It is our duty as educators to help every single student succeed, but we fail our kids when we ignore other issues that impact their growth, such as trouble at home, arriving MEA VOICE 11

COVER STORY

Examining Michigan’s Education Workforce: How to Address the Talent Shortage Facing Michigan’s Schools reports on the recommendations from educators who attended in‑person and online Solutions Summits.

In support of the solutions identified by educators, the report suggested 10 considerations: 1. Compensation. Overall compensation for educators should be increased across the state with existing resource inequities between neighboring school districts reduced.

2. Recruitment. Incentives (e.g., service scholarships; tax credits; loan-forgiveness programs; housing stipends; or hiring bonuses) should be created to attract more educators to the field and locations where they are needed most.

3. “Grow-your-own.” Sustainable career pathways programs, such as cadet programs for high school students or teacher leadership opportunities for early career educators, should be expanded in high-needs settings (e.g., building on successful community organizing models and in collaboration with businesses, philanthropy, and education stakeholder organizations) along with targeted programs that can help candidates with non-education degrees, those with some college or those currently working in schools (e.g., education support professionals and long-term substitutes) advance toward degree completion, certification, or additional endorsement areas.

4. Marketing. Dedicated funding should be provided for an innovative statewide marketing and communications campaign to improve and support recruitment activities locally and/or nationally (similar to the Pure Michigan or Going PRO in Michigan campaigns).

5. Rural input. Future efforts should be made to reach out to educators in northern Lower Peninsula communities and the Upper Peninsula, as well as other areas in Michigan, to ensure that the distinct concerns of all settings are included in the public’s dialogue.

6. Equitable funding. Rebuilding Michigan’s educator talent pipeline means Michigan’s education funding system—the responsibility of the Legislature— should be addressed to establish more adequate and equitable resources and funding among school districts, thus reducing disparities that can cause mobility and retention issues for the lowest-funded districts.

7. Data coordination. The Michigan Department of Education, along with intermediate school districts and educator preparation programs, should create a better data collection and reporting system throughout the educator pipeline (on both the demand and supply side) to help guide informed decision-making and provide timely, targeted information with real-time district-level staffing needs in specific shortage concentrations or geographic areas.

8. Task force. A statewide task force—such as those convened in South Dakota and Colorado—should be created to study supply and demand data and provide a strategic plan to address recruitment and retention issues facing Michigan over the next 10 years.

9. Partnerships. Educator-preparation programs and local school districts should expand on existing partnerships to better understand districts’ needs and the unique situations faced by our hardest-to-staff schools.

10. Annual conference. Communication between educators and policymakers should be fostered through an annual statewide conference oriented around sustaining the educator workforce and providing opportunities for researchers to share best practices and receive feedback.

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at school hungry or not receiving needed mental health services.”

Study participants across the board indicated that money allocated for standardized testing would be better spent on student and educator supports to address mental health needs, such as counselors, social workers, and paraeducators, and ongoing training for educators to deal with students experiencing trauma.

More diversified preparation of teachers-in-training, and paid release-time mentoring opportunities for experienced educators, would help to address classroom management issues that many new educators face in the first few years.

“Educators have critical insights that have been thus far discounted,” the report concluded. “If Michigan is truly interested in addressing factors causing existing educators to leave the profession and why others are choosing not to enter, it seems obvious that a next step is to ask the educators.”

State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said the report calls attention to the need for greater compensation and more supports for schools, in addition to reducing the evaluation time burden and cultivating renewed interest in teaching through teacher cadet and grow-your-own programs.

“We are committed to working with all interested parties to rebuild a profession that continues to be among the most honorable in our society, but which has been badly undermined and denigrated over the last half decade,” Rice said.

COVER STORY

Panel Advises Governor on Recruiting, Retaining Educators of Color Growing up in a small farming community in west Michigan, MEA member Angela Pérez didn’t know what she would do with her life—but she wanted to do something. She was the first in her family to go to college when she started taking classes at Muskegon Community College.

Pérez didn’t imagine herself being a teacher. She’d never had a Latinx educator until she met her college advisor, who recognized her potential and steered her toward a program at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) that helped minority students become teachers.

Now Pérez works with English Language Learners in Muskegon—a job she loves. “I love being in a profession where we can help break the cycle of poverty and not only make a difference in somebody’s life but help bring positive change in our communities.”

Before Pérez started her work 18 years ago, the Minority Teacher Education Center at GVSU provided financial assistance and a sense of community for aspiring educators from under-represented groups, but the program no longer exists.

“I don’t think I would have ever become a teacher had I not had certain support, and the fact that some of those supports are no long there makes you think, How many people

Angela Pérez are we missing? How many people are we just not getting to? People who could be great educators?”

The simple answer to that question?

Too many. In short, the statewide teacher shortage has exacerbated what was already a problem in the education field: a lack of diversity among the educator workforce.

In Michigan, the teaching force is predominantly comprised of white teachers (92%), with the next largest group, black/African American teachers, comprising only 6 percent and all other minority groups 1 percent or less, according to the

Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

Meanwhile, students of color make up one-third of the state’s total population of students.

Research shows that improving teacher diversity can help all students, but students of color especially benefit by seeing themselves reflected at the front of the classroom. Having educators from various racial and ethnic backgrounds improves minority student achievement and graduation rates.

For that reason, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tasked a subcommittee MEA VOICE 13

“Many support staff have the educational background and skills to be great teachers, but the cost of higher education is a barrier to advancing on a career path to the classroom,” Russ said.

The advisory panel also looked at methods for retaining educators of color once they join the profession through new teacher supports, such as coaches and mentors; networks that connect educators of color at the district, region, or state level; and simplified college debt forgiveness.

Ben Pineda of her new Educator Advisory Council—appointed last year—to explore ways to improve recruitment and retention of educators of color in Michigan.

Pérez was among the six members of the subcommittee who presented Whitmer with a set of 10 recommendations in February. “When we started out and we asked what this problem looks like in Michigan, the data that came back just blew my mind,” Pérez said.

The statistic that most delineated the problem for Pérez showed the white teacher to white student ratio in the state at 1:12, compared to a black teacher-to-student ratio of 1:60. “We are doing a disservice to our kids,” she concluded.

The subcommittee began from a position that the same solutions to target the state’s overall teacher shortage would help alleviate the shortfall of minority educators as well—summed up in the acronym SOS: Competitive salaries,

opportunities for leadership, and necessary supports.

From there the group offered strategies to bring in more candidates of color—such as marketing the profession, actively recruiting high school students, alleviating the costs of becoming a teacher, and developing more scholarships for prospective educators of color (See recommendations box, page 17).

Because the ranks of education support professionals are more diverse than the state’s teacher corps, the subcommittee recommended the creation of career ladders for paraeducators to become certified teachers.

Such an approach is behind a partnership in Kalamazoo between the local union, school district, and Western Michigan University, says MEA UniServ Director Tim Russ.

The program will help support staff earn teaching credentials through district-funded tuition assistance and expanded scholarship opportunities.

Editor’s Note: Due to public health concerns, a series of MEA Roundtable Discussions scheduled between April-June for members who identify as people of color have been postponed. No new dates had been set as of press time for this issue.

14 APRIL–MAY 2020

In Ann Arbor, a union-led Minority & New Teacher Affairs committee collaborates with the district to help recruit, hire, develop, and retain new teaching staff. Both Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo have boosted their percentages of educators of color above the state average.

The subcommittee “shot for the moon,” said MEA member Ben Pineda, a middle school social studies teacher in Haslett who served on the panel. One recommendation urged policymakers to reduce the role of standardized testing in student assessment and in educator evaluations.

“I think standardized testing is ruining our education system in the United States, and we shared that experience with the governor,” said Pineda said. “The fact that we have the ear of a governor who’s committed to education is so important. Now we need legislators to walk the walk.

We can’t keep losing great teachers.”

Still going strong in the classroom after 32 years, Pineda also is a mentor teacher to education students at Michigan State University and facilitates a support program for other mentors.

“I love, love, love teaching,” he said.

“I love working with students, and I’m privileged to have a voice and to be involved in efforts that are building toward change and hoping for a better tomorrow.”

COVER STORY

MEMBER VOICES FROM THE FIELD DaVasha Lobbins works as a secretary at Waverly Schools in Lansing, but she aspires to be a teacher. The 27-year-old was empowered by a high school class that taught personal finance and other life skills, so she earned a bachelor’s degree at Western Michigan University with a double major in Family and Consumer Sciences and Fashion Design in 2015.

While a self-supporting undergraduate student in 2013, she helped to lead an afterschool program for underprivileged high school students from Kalamazoo to learn how to sew. The students learned to make clothes and held a fashion show fundraiser, and two of the students went on to study fashion design in college. “That was my confirmation that teaching is what I needed to be doing,” she said. But Lobbins already holds too much student debt; she can’t afford to pay for certification out of pocket and take a year off from work for student teaching. “We shouldn’t have to scrape pennies to work in a field that is absolutely necessary for our society to function. We shouldn’t be required to not only work unpaid, but also be required to pay to work, while student teaching.”

Miah Cooper is a second-year teacher in Essexville,

which is a part of the Bay City community where she grew up. The Bay City Central High School graduate was honored by the NAACP during Black History Month in February for service to the community as one of the only black teachers born, raised, and teaching in the Bay City area in the past two decades. The organization recognized her for teaching, coaching, and mentoring young people where she grew up. But Cooper says negative news about the profession almost prevented her from joining it. “I was avoiding a calling for my first year in college, and I think it was the stigma against education that kept me from it,” the sixth-grade ELA and reading teacher said. She believes her thirdgrade teacher, who was black, played a role in her career choice. “He was one of my favorites, and I don’t know if that was because he looked like me, but I’m sure it played a part.” Now Cooper works in a school without a lot of diversity, but she believes her representation matters there, too. “It’s important for all students to see faces of color and to see that they’re successful and educated. It breaks a stigma that some people don’t even know they still have.”

MEA VOICE 15

COVER STORY

MEMBER VOICES FROM THE FIELD Phu Trieu has taught middle school social studies

in Mattawan for 16 years. He loves the profession while acknowledging it has ups and downs. He came to the United States as a baby after his mom fled Vietnam with him and his siblings and they lived for a time in a refugee camp in Thailand. He remembers the kindness of teachers from elementary school who recognized the family’s poverty— including one who put brand new socks and underwear in his desk and others who bought kids food. His mother worked three jobs and took English classes at night, while Trieu and his three siblings worked to contribute to the family. Today one sibling is a doctor and two are attorneys.

“I love teaching most of the time, but just like any job there are struggles,” he said. The biggest challenge of the job is feeling that teachers don’t have the respect of everyone in the community as much as when he was growing up. He believes student loan forgiveness would help more young people choose to be teachers, and it also would help to have recruiters actively coax young people into the profession.

“We need to talk to kids and say how awesome teaching is and be real with them. It’s not perfect; you have to work. But you get time to spend with your family, and you get the joy of building relationships with people that will last forever.”

Cateisha Wardlaw is a paraeducator in Pontiac,

working with high school students who have autism. She has worked in the district for 15 years; her dream is to be a preschool teacher. She has an associate’s degree in early childhood education, but she recently learned it would cost $50,000 to finish a bachelor’s degree and certification.

Student teaching alone would require her to take a year off from her job and still pay for credits. “For me it’s either pay your bills or take a class. I can’t afford to do it.” Like many of her colleagues, Wardlaw works three jobs: the full-time para job, plus 20 hours providing respite care for a disabled adult, and part-time as a pharmacy tech. Wardlaw often stays after contracted hours to help with students—even though it’s unpaid. “I don’t think parapros get recognized enough for what we do,” Wardlaw said. This year the district began paying $80 in sub pay for paraeducators who take over a classroom when a teacher is absent, but in her room the money is split between three paras who have associate’s degrees. “I’m grateful they did that, but we joke about it. We’re like, ‘Oh, there’s gas money.’” She believes districts should offer better pay plus free training and tuition reimbursement to help interested support staff employees to grow in their jobs and move into teaching roles.

16 APRIL–MAY 2020

COVER STORY

MEMBER VOICES FROM THE FIELD Jeremy Frame has been a special education teacher

in Farmington for 17 years. He recalls attending a new teacher orientation in 2003 with 80-100 new hires in which he only saw one other African-American man.“I remember those first few years, having issues and questions and nobody I could turn to and say, ‘Here’s my experience; here’s what I’m feeling. Do you feel that?’ Growing up in Ypsilanti, Frame was influenced by a black male teacher in second grade who saw his potential and said, “I would love for you to go into this profession. You can do this. You can be a teacher.” That moment planted a seed. Today the building where Frame works is headed up by an AfricanAmerican principal who has been successful in hiring more black faculty than ever before. The key is to be intentional in recruiting, mentoring, and supporting educators of color, he says. Still, not many black males are applying nowadays.

Frame believes low pay drives away potential educators of color who have other career options that offer greater financial rewards with less stress. In addition, the focus on standardized testing has had a negative impact on the field.

“It’s almost pitting teachers against teachers, and then you get away from collaboration and away from people looking out for each other and the greater good.”

GOVERNOR’S EDUCATOR ADVISORY COUNCIL RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF EDUCATORS OF COLOR SUBCOMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS RECRUITMENT • Develop and fund education careers courses at Michigan high schools • Create a career ladder for paraprofessionals • Promote #proudMIeducator and #PMEChat • Develop partnerships to provide scholarships to prospective educators of color

RETENTION • Fund development of new teacher support programs • Create networks to connect educators of color • Build partnerships and collaboration between MDE and MEA and AFT Michigan • Expand and simplify college debt forgiveness • Apply relevant and recent research to reduce the role of standardized testing • Offer pathways to leadership for educators of color

MEA VOICE 17

AWARDS & HONORS

Teacher’s Moonlighting Inspires ‘Notable’ Book MEA member Jeff Kass was a mid-career English teacher when his take-home pay began going down each year. Amid rising costs of living, the Ann Arbor educator—like others—took on second and third jobs, including one year moonlighting as a pizza delivery driver.

With a former student serving as his manager, Kass worked a few shifts a week at a busy college town pizzeria that sometimes kept him up all night before heading back to Pioneer High School the next morning to teach sophomore English and creative writing all day.

That school year—2016-17—he was determined to make something more than pizza from the experience.

“It taught me to believe what I tell my students: You can look at the world as a writer and everything around you can be a poem or a story,” Kass said.

The book that he produced from his delivery driver days contains both—narrative action and hip hopstyled verse. His collection of poems, 18 APRIL–MAY 2020

Teacher/ Pizza Guy, tells a rich story at once relatable, funny, poignant, and profound.

In January, the Library of Michigan named Teacher/Pizza Guy, published last year by Wayne State University Press, one of 20 Michigan Notable Books for 2020 featuring Michigan people, places and events. The Notable Books program shines a light on the state’s best writers.

“I want this to be a story that speaks for all teachers who are struggling, who feel like—‘I do good work all day. I help people. But for some reason the culture we’re in right now doesn’t think it’s important enough that I can go home and relax.’”

The heart of the book, according to Kass, is a piece about a touching late-night conversation between the teacher‑narrator mopping the floor and his former-student-turned-boss, “The Manager Talks About Getting Engaged,” in which “…we who close the store/ at 5 a.m./ must be our own fairy/ godmothers, our own/ Prince Charmings,/ there is no one else in this/ moment for us, no one/ thinking of us/ but us…”

The collection brings the reader along for his year of driving a beatup car that smells of “hockey gear and garlic” through snow and fog and potholes to deliver warm pies to customers who mistreat, ignore, swindle, flash, and—occasionally— inspire him.

Other poems take the reader into the 65-year-old high school building where his third-floor classroom sits next to the boys’ restroom (“Against automatic hand dryers”); and where he connects with quirky kids at lunch (“Marty blows up”); confronts his own failures while trying to console a student (“Leonard says his poems got rejected from the youth literary magazine”); and grieves a student’s death by suicide (“Another school year, another email”).

At times, his two worlds mingle together.

In “Young man, take your headphones out,” teacher/pizza guy is making a delivery, pausing to let a song on the radio buoy his spirit, recalling a student reading his poem about how music is his stability in a life divided between divorced parents’ separate houses.

Being a writing teacher is exhausting, Kass says. “It’s the emotional investment that comes with allowing students to become vulnerable in their writing. It’s every day hearing a story of one kid’s drug problem or eating disorder or abusive relationship or parent in prison.

“It’s hard to look at your 25 16-yearolds and know what they’re all going through, but it is the richest part of the job—getting the real story and reaching the heart of the kid, not just whatever appearance they want to put on when they’re at school.”

A New York native, Kass taught a few years in California before marrying his wife Karen—also a writer—and settling in Ann Arbor when she took a job as a University of Michigan crew coach. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Yale and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia.

He began working in sports journalism but turned to teaching in

AWARDS & HONORS

we who close the store at 5 a.m. must be our own fairy godmothers, our own Prince Charmings, there is no one else in this moment for us, no one thinking of us but us Jeff Kass

the hope of becoming “the English teacher I always wanted to have,” the type who brings in contemporary literature, and holds meaningful discussions, and asks students to write poetry and personal narratives in response to what they read.

That isn’t to say he doesn’t teach the five-paragraph essay, he said, “but I wanted students to write their own stories and to believe their stories matter.”

He gets emotional talking about having his daughter Sam in creative writing class during her last semester of high school—she’s now a freshman at Vassar College—and anticipating his freshman son Julius possibly taking his tenth-grade English class next year.

“I think my son sees me as his dad, as his sometimes baseball coach, but he doesn’t know what I’m like as a teacher, what I can make him think about in terms of the stories that we’re reading,” Kass said.

About 10 years ago—13 years into his career at Pioneer High School— Kass earned his Master of Fine Arts degree through a low-residency program at University of Southern Maine. He knew he needed to make time for his own writing in a way he hadn’t before.

“I feel like it inspires my students to know their teacher’s a published author, and when I get really incredible writers in my class, which I do, it inspires me to continue to grow as a writer,” he said. “That energy allows me to come into the classroom

every day feeling like something interesting and new and exciting can happen.”

Kass is the founder of the Literary Arts Program at Ann Arbor’s teen center, The Neutral Zone, where he was program director for 20 years. He also is the author of the award-winning short story collection Knuckleheads, the poetry collection My Beautiful Hook‑Nosed Beauty Queen Strut Wave, and the thriller Takedown.

He no longer delivers pizzas but works a second job as a Lyft driver 4-5 nights per week while continuing to sift through his experiences for writing material. “Now I’ve learned the way for me to get through whatever is hard is to create art out of it,” he said.

MEA VOICE 19

STRENGTH IN UNION

MEA Economist Starting New Life as Educator

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor

Ask MEA Economist Ruth Beier about her youth, and you might get a wry joke with a deadpan delivery: “I describe my childhood as Lord of the Flies in the suburbs. It was a pack of kids and some Cap’n Crunch.”

Truth is—she’s not kidding.

On the precipice of retirement after 27 years at MEA, Beier finds herself discussing her distant past to explain her imminent future. That’s because people can’t seem to understand the thing that she plans to do next.

This month, at the age of 59, she will close the book on school finance and begin the next chapter of her life—as a public school educator.

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” she says. “It just took me so long to get here.”

That is the short answer to the question she keeps hearing: “Why?” Most people expected her to ride off into the sunset after a successful career as an economist in several high-level roles and recent terms as a city councilwoman and mayor of East Lansing.

Beier holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Michigan State University and a master’s in economics from Duke University. She was hired by the state of Michigan to be deputy treasurer for taxation and economic policy at age 26.

20 APRIL–MAY 2020

She also served as associate director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at MSU before bringing her expertise to MEA in 1993. In her union role, she earned a reputation as a straight shooter with a sharp mind for cutting to the heart of complex education budgets.

During Ruth’s tenure at MEA she always made herself available to districts across the state to assist in their bargaining, said former MEA Vice President Nancy Strachan, who leaned on Beier during a 2008 strike in the Wayne-Westland school district where she was president at the time.

“Nobody could analyze a school budget like Ruth,” Strachan said.

“Her ultimate goal was to assist the bargaining teams to reach a fair and equitable settlement. At the Bargaining Conference each year it was standing-room-only in her sessions.”

However, Beier says, it was personal talk around her kitchen table several years ago that started her on a quest for a teaching credential.

“The conversation was about regrets, and I remember saying, ‘Why should we whine about things we can change?’ Then I started thinking about things that I regret, and I made a commitment to change everything I can that I truly regret.”

She enrolled in a night and weekend program through Ferris State University and started down a path to complete 60 credits and student teaching in six years while working at MEA during the day. She finishes in May, hopes to start a position this fall, and anticipates spending the next 15 years in a classroom.

But there is a more richly detailed answer to the question of why Beier is starting a second career in a field known for low pay and long hours.

Her story has to do with childhood trauma and an array of public school employees whom she credits with rescuing her.

“In my case, it really did take a village,” she said.

— Nowadays most every educator has heard of Adverse Childhood Experiences—known by the acronym ACEs. The term refers to the cumulative effects of childhood trauma on mental and physical health, education outcomes, and future job opportunities.

Different types of trauma can be scored to determine a person’s risk for negative effects. “One time I added mine up, and my score—and my siblings’ scores—are off the charts,” Beier said. “It doesn’t matter what the trauma is; if you have enough of it, something is going to happen.”

The second of five children growing up in Maryland, Beier said her firstgrade teacher was the first educator to intervene in a home life marked by parental absence—making sure she had food at lunch, snow pants and hand lotion in the winter, and enough praise to feel worthy.

“My parents didn’t say our names very often, so to hear my name 10 times a day was affirming,” Beier said. “She told me I was smart and nice. I didn’t speak for the first few months at school because I was in awe. It’s like there was singing in my head all the time. I just loved it there.”

In second grade, a cafeteria worker made a difference when she saw Beier and her older brother and younger sister hanging around before school and eating lunches they’d brought. The “lunch lady” started giving them food to eat in the morning so they wouldn’t go hungry at lunchtime.

“She made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—except for my brother, who was allergic to peanut butter.

She made him a bologna sandwich every day. It was nothing fancy, but we weren’t hungry anymore.”

Like other troubled kids, she bullied others as she grew. Then she heard her fourth-grade teacher consoling a victim in a voice loud enough for Beier to hear. “She said, ‘Ruth would

MEA Economist Ruth Beier said goodbye to members in an address during her final MEA Winter Conference in February (left). Beier is completing requirements to be certified as a teacher this spring.

never do that; she’s a nice girl.’ And it was like, oh—that’s right. Some adults don’t think I’m awful.

“That’s when my life as a bully ended.

I didn’t like it anyway. I hated the way it made me feel.”

By then, all of her siblings were in school—including twin brothers in second grade. All five would walk to school instead of taking the bus, so they could arrive around 6:00 a.m. to sit in the library and read.

When the principal told them to stop coming before 7:45, the children continued to arrive early but waited outside—until a custodian stepped

in. “He let us in the back where there was a wing of the school the principal would never go to. And we would sit in a little alcove there.”

The next year, it was a fifth-grade teacher who filled the void. “I don’t know if the custodian told her or what, but my fifth-grade teacher would let us all into her classroom every morning.”

In ninth grade, a social studies teacher spoke to her about the trouble she was again getting into. In junior year the band director made Beier—a talented flute player—the drum major of the marching band.

MEA VOICE 21

Beier credits a village of educators—teachers, a custodian, and a “lunch lady”—for rescuing her from effects of childhood trauma.

And a couple of teachers convinced her she had talent in math even though she’d always felt overshadowed by a brilliant older brother who left for college after one year of high school.

Since then benefits for public school employees—such as health care and pensions—have also eroded thanks to a 25-year cratering of financial support for public education in Michigan.

All together, she says, those experiences saved her. “Without them— seriously—I surely would not be where I am now, and I may not have even survived.”

Beier says it’s the source of today’s educator shortage—people have lots of other better-paying jobs to pursue.

“It’s economics,” she said. “Ten years ago, teacher pay was lower compared to everybody else, but not as low as it is now. And teachers had really good benefits.”

— Beier became an economist after falling in love with the subject while taking a class at MSU with a dynamic professor. She hadn’t planned to follow in the footsteps of her father, an economist at the World Bank who lived overseas for much of her youth.

But when she asked him whether she should become a teacher or an economist, he told her to look at what they earn. “I said, ‘Yeah.

I guess I can’t afford to be a teacher.’

And I couldn’t.”

22 APRIL–MAY 2020

Joining the ranks of MEA at the age of 32 felt “sort of like being a teacher,” she said. “I thought of it as helping education professionals so they could actually get what they needed to survive and do well. It felt really good.”

Over the years, Beier has become widely respected for her expertise and member advocacy.

During the Wayne-Westland strike, from her early assessment of the

district’s financial health, to her assistance responding to district proposals and fact-finding after the job action ended, Beier was an essential player, said Evelyn Baran, now retired, who was UniServ Director at the time.

“She was with us every important day for a year,” Baran said. “Bargaining teams loved her, members trusted her, and mediators and fact-finders always found her to be the most credible person on either side.”

Eric Curtiss, president of GalesburgAugusta Education Association, said he has attended her presentations at MEA conferences for several years.

“Ruth is the gold standard for school finance. She’s come to our district a couple of times and helped us get through tough bargains.”

In recent years, Beier worked with MEA IT staff to develop a sophisticated online tool which provides union negotiating teams precise financial information for use at the bargaining table.

STRENGTH IN UNION

Now living her dream to be a teacher, “Every day that I get up and remember that I get to go to school, I’m happy,” Beier says.

The MEA Proposal Cost Calculator is a database that allows users to enter a bargaining proposal—for example, a 2 percent salary increase plus steps—and receive a report in just seconds that details costs to the district down to the penny.

Beier says her greatest accomplishment has been helping school districts understand and pass regional enhancement millages to increase general fund budgets—most recently in Macomb County. “Every place it’s gotten passed, I’ve been involved, and it actually creates money.”

— All of Beier’s siblings are highly accomplished adults. Her older brother is an Academy Award-winning computer effects supervisor and technologist in Hollywood; her sister is a CEO in Kansas; one younger brother is a computer programmer who sold his work to Microsoft and retired at 38, and the other is a naval engineer.

“What happens when school is your savior is that you are really, really into it,” she said. “I love school. I’ve been taking classes every year since I was five years old. After earning my master’s, I have taken classes in Spanish, math, chemistry, biology, psychology, writing, and—of course—an entire elementary education program.”

This year she has been completing her student teaching in a second-grade classroom at Ralya Elementary School in Haslett.

Seeing her there is like witnessing a rebirth. She smiles non-stop. Her gait is light, and she seems to glow from within.

“When I walk into an elementary school, I just feel so happy,” she said.

Her mentor teacher at the school, Suzie Zuke, first met Beier through her work on the union bargaining team but now she sees her in a new light—as a “natural” educator. “She’s phenomenal,” Zuke said. “Ever since

day one, she came in ready to go and has worked on making a difference. She has the heart and the dedication of a true teacher.”

A voracious reader, Beier went above and beyond observation requirements last fall to work with children one-on-one to boost literacy skills. Now she glories in getting kids excited about math through manipulatives and discovery.

She likes to let students figure out solutions and show her their thinking, so they solidify understanding by seeing many different ways to solve a problem. She also has students do timed math throughout the day to build fluency and confidence.

Mostly she loves being around young people, getting to know their individual quirks and needs, and helping them become their strongest and best selves. “Every day that I get up and remember that I get to go to school, I’m happy,” she said.

MEA VOICE 23

ELECTION 2020

U.S. Sen. Peters Appeals to Educators Education has become a front-burner issue in a bid for re-election by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters in Michigan because of the stark contrast between him and his opponent, he says.

Peters has fought back against the destructive budget cuts and policies of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. His Republican challenger, John James, is being aided by a super PAC that received nearly $1 million in contributions from the DeVos family in December.

Six members of the DeVos family were the only contributors of donations totaling $800,000 to the Better Future MI Fund which formed on Oct. 31 last year with a focus on unseating Peters, according to the 24 APRIL–MAY 2020

super PAC’s first campaign filing on Jan. 31.

Under federal elections law, individuals are limited in how much they can give to a political candidate, but super Political Action Committees can raise unlimited money in support of a candidate as long as no coordination exists between the two.

That’s why in this election year Michigan will be a battleground state in a fight that will determine the future direction of public education, Peters told attendees at the MEA Winter Conference in February.

It’s time to replace Betsy DeVos, who has zero experience with public schools as a parent, teacher or administrator, Peters told the

crowd of hundreds at MEA’s biggest event of the year: “Our children deserve better.”

From squandering millions of dollars on charter schools that never opened to letting predatory colleges off the hook for defrauding their students, “her policies have ranged from bad to downright cruel,” he said.

“The Department of Education has antagonized and attacked our public schools and all of you as educators and folks who work in public schools.

At a time when budgets are tight and every dollar can make a difference, they’re focused on funneling money away from schools that most need it in order to pad the coffers of private and charter schools.”

ELECTION 2020

MEA Makes Supreme Court Recommendations In addition to a continuing recommendation for U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, last month MEA announced recommendations for Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and Elizabeth Welch for election to the Michigan Supreme Court.

“When the interests of students and educators come before our state’s Supreme Court, we expect nothing more or less than a fair hearing under the law,” said MEA President Paula Herbart. “Justice McCormack’s eight years on the bench have proven her to be a fair and impartial voice for justice—and we believe Elizabeth Welch’s brilliant legal mind and strong beliefs in the institution of public education will serve our state and our students for years to come.”

McCormack has served on the Michigan Supreme Court since 2013

In February, MEA announced a continuing recommendation for Peters in his re-election bid this November.

The son of an MEA member, Peters is committed to investing in quality public schools to create opportunities for students whether they go on to four-year colleges or pursue an occupation through career-technical education.

“Everyone has a different path in life, but it’s our job to ensure every child gets the same opportunity, no matter who they are, and that’s through our public schools,” Peters said. “That’s what I will continue to fight for in Washington, whether it’s for STEM education or preparing for a four-year degree or to focus

and as Chief Justice since 2019.

Prior to her time on the bench, she was professor at the University of Michigan Law School, where she taught criminal law and legal ethics, and oversaw the school clinical programs. During her time on the Supreme Court, she has ruled on a variety of important cases for public education, including deciding in favor of individual school districts’ ability to restrict the carry of guns in schools and in favor of returning the 3 percent of school employees’ salary illegally withheld from 2010-12 under an unconstitutional state law.

Welch is an employment law attorney from Grand Rapids, running her own practice for the past 16 years to help employers understand and follow laws governing wages and hours, leave practices, employee contracts and negotiations, and more.

She’s active in the West Michigan

more resources on Career Technical Education.”

Peters has represented Michigan in the U.S. Senate since 2015 following six years in Congress and seven years in the state Senate. He previously worked as an investment advisor and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve after volunteering at age 34.

In his keynote speech at the conference, Peters echoed the farewell address of President George Washington, who warned the fledgling nation to beware of political polarization, which could lead to the rise of a demagogue who inflames people’s dark passions and fears.

community, including service with the Steelcase Foundation, the Grand Valley University Foundation and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. Welch has been a staunch supporter of public education throughout her career, including seven years of service on the East Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education and many years of statewide outreach and training for parents to advocate for strong public schools on behalf of their students and their communities.

Following interviews of the candidates, these recommendations were voted on by the MEA Statewide Screening & Recommending Committee, which is a diverse group of MEA members from across the state elected or appointed to recommend friends of public education for election in statewide races.

“We’re there folks,” he said, rallying the conference crowd to step up to the challenge of redefining America.

“That is not who we are; that is not our values.”

Public education is part of his DNA, Peters said. He graduated from Rochester public schools where his father worked as a high school and middle school English and social studies teacher for more than 30 years.

“Even now I will have people come up to me and say, ‘Your father made a difference in my life. I remember—he was my favorite teacher.’

All of you are making a difference in people’s lives, and I thank you for what you do every day.”

MEA VOICE 25

ISSUES & ADVOCACY

Whitmer Proposes Budget Increase for Education Gov. Gretchen Whitmer got a close-up look at the work of a literacy specialist when she job shadowed MEA member Kristyn Cubitt at Troy’s Wass Elementary School in March.

Whitmer observed Cubitt co-teaching a readers’ workshop lesson followed by a coaching session with a third-grade teacher. She also saw Cubitt run a Leveled Literacy Intervention with a small group of kindergarteners and conduct a one-on-one daily intervention with a first grader.

Michigan’s educators deserve leaders who appreciate the work they do and will fight for them, Whitmer said afterward. “When I learn more about 26 APRIL–MAY 2020

the work they’re doing on a daily basis, I can make smarter choices as governor that will help our educators and students.”

The governor observed and asked questions for three hours, Cubitt said.

“It was exciting to have Wass represent the literacy work happening across our district. Narrowing our focus on what we do in literacy and doing a few things really well is work we’re proud to share.”

The visit came on the heels of Whitmer unveiling her state budget proposal for fiscal year 2021, which includes increases for education and weighted funding for students who are costlier to educate.

Last year, Whitmer was able to secure funding to triple the number of literacy coaches and move the state toward a more equitable school funding formula.

“This year, I’m building on that progress by introducing a budget that includes the largest increase in funding for school operations in decades, a heavy focus on early literacy, teacher reimbursements for school supplies and universal pre-K for kids who need it most,” she said.

Whitmer is proposing a $415 million increase in K-12 funding and additional money for universities and community colleges.

ISSUES & ADVOCACY

Here are the K-12 education highlights of Whitmer’s budget recommendations: $290 million to increase base per-pupil funding to $8,336 for districts at the minimum (a $225 per pupil increase) and $8,679 for districts at the maximum (a $150 per pupil increase). $60 million to increase state reimbursements for special education services. This would double last year’s additional state reimbursement for a range of academic supports. $60 million to provide additional supports for academically at-risk & economically disadvantaged pupils, an 11.5% increase over FY20.

This would bring total funding for this purpose to $582 million to allow districts to provide additional supports such as tutoring and counseling.

Continue to fund literacy coaches and expand resources to improve training for other educators in literacy best practices.

$35.5 million to increase payments for state-funded preschool programs. The Great Start Readiness Program provides free preschool to 38,000 4-year-olds. The Executive Budget would raise the state payment for a full-day preschooler to the same level as the proposed K-12 base foundation allowance, the first increase in rates since 2014.

Transportation costs for small, isolated districts would be maintained at $7 million.

Cyber Schools. A reduced funding level of approximately $24 million (20% off of the full foundation allowance) for the state’s cyber schools, in recognition of lower facility, maintenance, and transportation costs compared to brick-and-mortar schools.

Boiler Plate. The governor is recommending repeal of Section 164(h), which requires that additional compensation be tied to evaluation in collective bargaining agreements.

For higher education: $38.1 million in additional university operations funding, representing a 2.5% increase over fiscal year 2020. This increase would be distributed across-the-board to provide planning stability for universities. Receipt of this additional funding would be contingent on universities holding tuition increases below 4.25%.

For community colleges: $8.1 million in additional community college operations funding, representing a 2.5% increase over fiscal year 2020. Receipt of the funding increase would be contingent on colleges holding tuition increases below 4.25%. $35 million for the new Michigan Reconnect Grant program for non-traditional students seeking in-demand industry certifications or credentials, recommended in a fiscal year 2020 supplemental appropriation bill to support the program through fiscal year 2021.

Are you in need of a little levity to brighten your day? Check out this super adorable video of students from Troy’s Wass Elementary School grilling the governor with some tough questions! (link?)

Under the Whitmer plan, base per-pupil funding would increase $150-220 per student with additional dollars going toward special education, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students.

“Whether it’s a literacy coach helping kids read by the end of third grade, a parapro helping students with special needs, a teacher, a school secretary, or a member of the custodial or cafeteria staff, the people who go to work in our schools every day deserve to be treated with respect by

the leaders who will fight for them,” Whitmer said.

MEA lobbyists will continue to monitor the budget closely throughout the appropriations process. The House and Senate issue their budget proposals in the spring.

MEA VOICE 27

MEA ELECTIONS

Paula Herbart Paula Herbart took office as President of the 125,000-member Michigan Education Association on Sept. 1, 2017. A K-12 music teacher in Macomb County’s Fraser Public Schools, Herbart served in numer‑ ous leadership roles within her local, including local president. In 2012, she was elected president of MEA/ NEA Local 1, serving 16 districts in Macomb and Wayne counties. She has served on the MEA and NEA Board of Directors, as chair of the 6-E Coordinating Council, and vice chair of both the MEA’s Local Option Coalition and the Instructional and Professional Development Committee.

Paula continues to be active at the national level, serving as VicePresident/Mid-West Region on the National Council of State Education Associations (NCSEA). A graduate of the University of Michigan-School of Music, Herbart lives in Lansing, MI with her husband and son.

STATEMENT Three years ago I wrote, “Now, more than ever, the union is the beacon of professional strength, and that’s what my campaign is all about.” Every day since taking office on September 1, 2017, I have acted to secure this reality for MEA members past, present and future.

28 APRIL–MAY 2020

Immediately I set out on the Listening Tour I had promised. The officers traveled thousands of miles to meet members and hear what they had to say about the MEA and their lives in public education. Members urged us to take their stories to anyone who would listen. Hearing incredible stories of resilience and professionalism, heartbreaking and joyful details of their students and colleagues, I was committed to making their stories the story when I sat down and spoke with people in positions of influence and power. I made sure they heard YOU.

for our organization is a priority, securing that MEA will be here to provide support for generations of educators! Our professional programming and advocacy continues to be strong. Yet, there is more work to be done: the efforts to stabilize and grow membership, the political agenda to regain bargaining rights of all members and the ongoing struggle to fully fund our public schools. I am committed to fighting for these issues. I am committed to standing up for our members.

I am committed to the Michigan Education Association: Champions of Education!

Moving forward from those conversations with members, I worked to advance MEA’s place in the arena of Education Advocacy, Education Profession Practice and Education Policy. Where decisions are made that affect our members and the students they serve, we have a voice at that table. And those voices are taken seriously. Securing members’ voices on the Governor’s Education Advisory Committee, the Launch Michigan Coalition uniting business leaders, philanthropic leaders, parent organizations and the union voices of the AFT-MI and MEA, and diligent efforts to elect pro-public education legislators—including our own members—are things of which I am very proud!

Chandra Madafferi

We have strengthened our partnership with the Michigan Department of Education, grown our professional practices opportunities, instituting the new re-imagined “Center of Leadership and Learning,” our Early Educator outreach, a revitalized Aspiring Educators’ program and continued commitment to relevant trainings/conferences for our Higher Education members and Education Support Professionals. The vision of strengthening the profession remains a top priority for the Michigan Education Association.

I am certain MEA is on the right path. Safeguarding the fiscal health

Chandra Madafferi is finishing her first term as the MEA Vice President.

Prior to this she was the President of the Novi Education Association in Oakland County and a high school teacher. She has served as Novi EA’s treasurer, PAC chair and negotiation spokesperson, in addition to roles as a delegate to the MEA and NEA Representative Assemblies and the Region 7 council. Originally from the west side of Michigan, Chandra lives in South Lyon with her family.

STATEMENT With a passion for servant leadership, I have worked hard to improve the Local Presidents’ Academy (LPA)

MEA ELECTIONS

MEA Officer Candidate Statements

into a true leadership development program that goes beyond task management, giving local leaders the tools to help make transformational change. Traditionally, the LPA has been for the newly elected leader, however with the new focus of the program, next year I will welcome experienced leaders into the LPA 2.0 program to help reestablish their support networks and encourage their leadership growth.

Quality professional development also drives my work. Over the past two years, along with the other officers and staff, I helped to establish the Center for Leadership and Learning which will eventually bring alignment to our trainings in the field, at headquarters, or at conferences.

I know there still is a lot more to do but I am excited to see my vision come to fruition. In addition, I have also helped strengthen our relationship with the Michigan Department of Education and am working closely with them on many policies that will affect our association and members in the future.

I enjoy a challenge and am not afraid to confront hard facts. I am committed to continually work with my running mate, Paula Herbart, who is running for re-election as MEA President, and Brett Smith, who is running for re-election as Secretary-Treasurer. Together this slate is dedicated to follow the mission of the MEA which ensures the “education of our students and the environments of our members are of the highest quality” and to make sure MEA is a strong viable association for many years to come.

Brett Smith Brett Smith has served as MEA Secretary Treasurer since 2017.

He was president of the Linden Education Association prior to his election to statewide office. A fifthgrade teacher, Smith served as treasurer of the 10G Coordinating Council and the 10G Governing Council. Smith earned a bache‑ lor’s degree in Business Finance from University of Michigan Flint, a master’s degree in Science of Administration from Central Michigan University and an endorsement in Education Administration from Eastern Michigan University. He and his wife Tracey have four children.

STATEMENT I have loved every minute since being elected as the MEA SecretaryTreasurer. The union is who I am.

The energy and passion for educating students is alive and well in Michigan. I am honored to be a part of it.

Sitting on the boards of the MEA, MESSA and MEA Financial Services has been wonderful. My finance background has allowed me to have in-depth discussions in the operations of all three companies.

I have chaired several committees that have led to the balancing of the MEA budget and stabilizing membership.

As MEA Secretary-Treasurer, my goal over the next three years is to focus on membership while continuing to maintain a balanced budget.

I will continue to work on ways to promote membership through our Aspiring Educator program and the Michigan New Educator group.

I also want to focus on the loyalty of our current members and continue to show the value of being a member of the MEA.

I plan to stay actively involved in conversations with our legislatures.

I promise to be a strong advocate to make sure the voice of our membership is heard. I deeply feel the passion needed to fight for what is best for our students and our members when dealing politically with those that have ulterior motives in regards to the money needed to completely fund our schools. This is an eternal battle that I pledge to never stop fighting.

I have enjoyed attending member functions. It has been interesting to hear the different issues from different areas of our great state.

Regardless of where I am, the focus of the conversation always ends on fighting for what is best for children.

I look forward to continuing to build relationships with our members from across Michigan.

I am proud of the work that I have accomplished in my first term.

I hope to have the opportunity to continue to serve in the role of MEA Secretary-Treasurer over the next term.

MEA VOICE 29

MEA ELECTIONS

I understand the time commitments and responsibilities required to hold this office… attending meetings, the importance of being approachable by members seeking their insight, working collaboratively with fellow NEA Directors at the National and State levels while representing the positions of our members, our union, MEA.

Marti Alvarez Marti Alvarez is a bus driver in Traverse City Area Public Schools.

She has served as secretary, steward and NEA/MEA Representative in her local association, in addition to stints as Region 15 co-chair and Coordinating Council co-chair. She has been elected to the MEA Board ESP at-large, MEA Executive Caucus ESP at-large, and NEA ESP atlarge, and she has served on NEA’s Resolutions Committee.

STATEMENT I’m Marti Alvarez, proud MEA Union member of 25 years, a transportation specialist for Traverse City Area Public Schools, Director on the MEA ESP Caucus Executive Board and serve you on the NEA Resolutions Committee.

We find ourselves in critical times, which threaten the very existence of Unions, Public Education, our human and civil rights. From day one, I’ll be ready to serve as your NEA Director having served a three year term as NEA Director ESP at Large. NEA trained, I have extensive experience lobbying the many looming issues we face as Union members, educators, defenders of public education to name a few.

30 APRIL–MAY 2020

At the National level, I’ve been appointed by NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia to NEA Resolutions Committee. I am one of thirty three candidates selected from 385 to be a peer coach for NEA Leaders of Color Pathways Project, serving to develop, test, and model strategies building structural pathways for emerging leaders of color to access leadership training opportunities.

I was elected to be a trainer for the NEA ESP Leadership Institute.

I proudly served on the committee to develop the NEA ESP Professional Growth Continuum.

In state, I served as a member of the MEA Board of Directors, numerous committees and currently on the MEA ESP Caucus Executive Board.

I am deeply involved in my community. Appointed by Traverse City Mayor, I serve on the Human Rights Commission; I assist domestic abuse survivors through our Women’s Resource Center and I’m a recruitment assistant for census-takers and past Precinct Delegate.

I believe I have demonstrated my ability and desire to lead and vow to represent Michigan, MEA, NEA members and public education as your NEA Director. I am Marti Alvarez; asking for your support, your vote, to serve you and MEA as your NEA Director. Union Strong, In Solidarity… Thank you.

Jenni Lamb Jenni Lamb teaches English Language Arts, Global Education, and German at Stevenson High School in Livonia.

She has been elected as a delegate to the MEA Representative Assembly and as the statewide Women’s Caucus president. A Region 2 member-at-large, Lamb has chaired Elections and Nominations, in addition to serving as the Gender & Equity chairperson. At the local level, she has been a High School Area director and building representative for the Livonia Education Association, also taking on appointed roles as a Community Relations director and Crisis Committee member.

STATEMENT In addition to the subject areas I’m currently teaching, I am also K-12 certified in Special Education (Specific Learning Disabilities and Emotional Impairments) and 6-12 certified for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). In college, I worked as a coach, a substitute teacher, a paraprofessional, and a secretary. With your vote, I look forward to serving my union brothers and sisters in a new capacity.

MEA ELECTIONS

Delegates to the MEA Representative Assembly (RA) will elect two members to represent Michigan on the NEA Board of Directors. These are biographies and candidate statements of the three announced candidates for those positions.

Robyn O’Keefe Robyn O’Keefe is a special education paraprofessional at Berkshire Middle School in Birmingham Public Schools.

She is president and a bargaining team member in her local association, having previously served as vice pres‑ ident. She has been a Screening and Recommendations Committee mem‑ ber at the region level and currently is a member of the Conference Planning Committee at the state level. Born in Pontiac and raised in White Lake, O’Keefe is an alumna of Huron Valley Schools and Wayne State University, having studied Biological Sciences.

She and her husband Brian are Birmingham residents and the proud parents of three sons and a daugh‑ ter who are alumni of Birmingham Public Schools. Outside of her work as a local leader and paraprofession‑ al, O’Keefe is an engaged political ac‑ tivist with the grassroots group Fems for Dems and enjoys cycling, visiting our National Parks, and spending time on the slopes of Mt. Holly Ski Resort as a volunteer member of the National Ski Patrol.

STATEMENT Public education, unionism and activism have been foundational elements in my life and are the

underlying inspirations for my desire to serve as your NEA State Director.

My father, as the head of our household of six, was a UAW local leader and skilled tradesman who also bravely battled chronic mental illness. I grew up with a very real understanding that it was his union that guaranteed the sick pay, healthcare & job security that stood between the middle class existence our family enjoyed and the threat of poverty and potential homelessness.

My membership in and leadership of the Birmingham Association of Paraprofessionals have provided me the opportunity to proudly carry on my father’s legacy of union stewardship.

During my childhood, especially the tumultuous times when my father was ill, it was the public educators of Huron Valley Schools who provided refuge from the storm. Support professionals, teachers and administrators alike created the school sanctuary where I could thrive, free from the stresses and worries of home. My current work as Special Education Paraprofessional affords me the opportunity to pay that

forward and reinforces my understanding that all children, regardless of their zip code, must have access to quality public schools. For many, like the ones I support and the child I once was, it is more than an education; it is a lifeline.

As a lifelong progressive, I believe that society’s greatest challenges are best met when sound public policy, resources and passions align. Public education is one of our country’s greatest triumphs and the best vehicle for prosperity, equity and social justice. The passion of public educators is undeniable. What we must promote and protect is the public policy and funding that create an environment where these passionate educators can thrive to inspire & unleash the greatest potential of the future global citizens we teach. As an activist with demonstrable engagement on federal, state and local campaigns, my experience and the relationships formed through it will serve as valuable assets to my work as your NEA State Director.

It would be an honor to have your vote and this opportunity.

MEA VOICE 31

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rolonda Gleason is a secretary at Ferris State University. The Alaska native knows what it’s like to work without a union, so now she’s a one-woman MEA welcoming committee.

What work did you do before coming to FSU? I was a support-staff person at the University of Alaska and worked closely with the School of Ed where we recruited teachers for the state of Alaska. And there the faculty had a union. They always had better healthcare because they could bargain. But when support staff tried to get a union, it was almost impossible. For seven of the 13 years I was working there, we tried and tried. My question was, why does a certain category of people get representation but the other can’t?

What was the result of not having a union? When administration changed and your director changed, the support staff changed.

They brought in who they wanted.

And there really wasn’t a process for retaining your position or your job.

There was not a process to say, “This isn’t right,” or, “Do I have options?”

I had a really good director but when she left, everything changed. The new director brought in their own support staff and slowly whittled away those they didn’t want, or they changed people’s roles on a dime.

It felt like support staff people were expendable.

What brought you to Michigan?

My husband is from here. We have a blended family. His kids are here, and I have four boys. My third child graduated, was done with school, going on to college. And then I have a younger son. So I thought this is a good time if we’re going to do this.

Did you meet in Alaska? Yeah.

He was a heavy equipment operator there. Actually he installed my cable. That’s how I met him.

And we were coming to Michigan every year after I met him and 34 APRIL–MAY 2020

that was 13 years ago. I’ve been with Ferris now for almost six years.

What’s it like trying to recruit teachers to come to Alaska?

Alaska is kind of unique, and we have a lot of remote areas where the culture is different. It’s not that regimented kind of Western way of education. At certain times you’ve got to go with the flow of the land.

So we recruited from other places, including Michigan, but the state also put efforts into getting Alaskan Natives from the villages interested in education. Actually I don’t know if they still have it, but we did have a program to get Native Alaskan children into education and the state would pay for their schooling as long as they brought it back home.

How did you start welcoming new hires at FSU? I was always pro-union because I signed up, but I didn’t really know what it was about. I didn’t know how it benefits me as an employee. Then I got voted in as a delegate for the RA (Representative Assembly) and I was like, “Okay, besides big global things like discounts, let me try to make this more applicable.” What does MEA mean to me here? I like that it’s such a real community. I like that I have a process. I feel confident. That’s why I took on this role of welcoming anybody new that starts in the CTA (Clerical Technical Association) to let them know there’s options; you do have a union here, and this is what it can do for you.

What has the union meant to you? The union did something for me that was awesome. My son got really sick and we had to go to Portland for a specialist for three months. I was just going to put in my resignation, and one of my union reps said, “No you’re not.” The union worked it out so I had nine-month contract that year, so I could be off all that time and come back in the fall. That was wonderful because I needed the insurance for my son.

I was just so thankful.

What do you do to welcome people? Sometimes I bake cookies. I’ll present them with a packet of information on our area reps, who’s your rep for your particular area. Of course, it gives them information about MEA, but we also wrote up a sheet about what the union means to you here at Ferris. I just try to talk to them and let them know we’re here to help. Like I said, from what I’ve seen, it is a no-brainer to have that due process when it comes to my job, and feeding my kids, and having equity. If you make it so it’s tangible and someone can apply it to their life, it’s meaningful.

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