AN EARLY START

instruction?”
The testing in Michigan is highstakes
for the teachers. MEA was
successful in reducing the proposed
percentage that test scores would
count toward evaluations from 50 percent
to 25 percent, but it still has huge
ramifications for teachers in tested
areas.
“Once a week, I get a call from a
teacher who is stressed out and wants
to quit; they just can’t continue,” Baker
said. “I represent about 1,200 members.
That’s a high percentage of people who
are not only feeling overwhelmed, but
are reaching out to talk about it.”
Baker noted that her members
went into the profession thinking
they would work hard for 30 years and
then retire with a decent pension, but
they’re not sure they’re going to make
it now.
“People still love teaching when they
can close the door and shut the world
out, but that’s gotten a lot harder to
“The Mackinac
Center
successfully
advocated
for charter
schools and the
privatization of
essential school
services.”
do,” Baker said.
Politicians have devalued the profession
so much through reductions
to pension and health benefits and
through high stakes testing and punitive
evaluations that college teacher
prep programs are not seeing sufficient
numbers.
According to federal data, enrollment
in teacher preparation programs
in Michigan declined 38 percent from
2008 to 2012.
“Our school systems can’t even get
people to come in and substitute,”
Baker noted.
But educators aren’t the only ones
suffering. According to analysis done
by the Economic Policy Institute,
“Right to Work” for less laws decreased
hourly wages for all workers by three
percent.
CHALLENGES OFFER OPPORTUNITIES
The Mackinac Center and other special
interest groups are still not satisfied.
There is a bill currently before the
Michigan Assembly that would eliminate
release time for association business.
It has already passed the Senate.
“They come at us from every angle
they can think of,” Baker said. “And it’s
all in an effort to diminish the union.
We’ve moved from a nation state to
a corporate state.” Baker said. She
believes that free public education
is in jeopardy. But she is hopeful that
Michigan educators are turning a corner
— one that will benefit themselves,
their students and their communities.
“The challenge of ‘Right to Work’
opens the doors to opportunity that
MEA is taking advantage of as we move
forward,” Baker said. “We are organizing
our members around these newly
prohibited subjects of bargaining,
advocating for each other in the buildings,
engaging in community action
and more. Instead of just concentrating
on providing good quality services
to our membership, we are concentrating
on organizing our membership.
We are getting them to feel the power
they possess when they take collective
action.”
Overall, the MEA lost about 10 percent
of its membership as a result of
decreased school enrollment, privatization
of services, the defunding of
public schools, and “Right to Work”
for less, but it continues to strenuously
advocate for members and for the students
they serve.
“At first, it was a shock. People had
this belief that we were too strong a
union state for this to happen,” Baker
said. “But now, people are really starting
to see the value of collective action.
We need it, nationwide, for all the issues
facing us, and then maybe we can
turn this country back into a nationstate.”
Kathryn Coulibaly is an NJEA associate director
of public relations. You can contact
her at kcoulibaly@njea.org.
MICHIGAN
a timeline
1987 — Mackinac Center is established
in Midland, Mich.
1988 — Mackinac Center recommends
public charter schools.
1993 — Michigan Legislature enacts one
of the nation’s first charter school laws.
1994 — Michigan Legislature enacts a
law preventing unions from bargaining
language that would prevent privatization
of non-instructional services in public
schools. This led to 60 percent of school
districts privatizing educational support
professionals’ jobs.
1997 — New hires are locked out of the
Michigan State Employees Retirement
System and forced into a defined-contribution
system, a less valuable benefit.
2009 — Michigan public schools are
required to incorporate merit pay when
determining teacher compensation.
2012 — New laws abolish retiree health
care benefits for future public school
retirees and require current retirees to
contribute 20 percent toward the benefit
cost.
2012 — Michigan Legislature enacts a
law preventing unions from automatically
deducting dues from payroll.
2013 — Michigan becomes the nation’s
24th “Right to Work” for less state.