More than 200 media outlets nationwide and in other countries are reporting that the Michigan Education Association’s so-called ‘August window’ that limited when members could resign from the union to the month of August has been found illegal according to a labor law judge.
The newest edition of Michigan Education Digest is now available online. Topics include charter public school oversight, enrollment declines and Saginaw teachers’ pay cut.
Christopher Douglas, an associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan-Flint and a member of the Mackinac Center’s Board of Scholars, writes in Crain’s Detroit Business that the Detroit City Council and state Legislature should have caved to corporate welfare demands made by the Detroit Red Wings for the team’s new arena.
The Detroit News, WWMT-TV3 in Kalamazoo and Michigan Radio have all reported recently about teachers seeking to leave the Michigan Education Association under the state’s right-to-work law.
More information can be found at https://michiganunionoptout.com.
Some of the most courageous people I know are teachers.
Their job requires them to face students, parents, administrators, colleagues and the general public constantly. Their performance receives criticism regularly.
For the past year, we at the Mackinac Center have had the privilege of getting to know some of the bravest teachers in Michigan. They stand for principles rather than power. The organization that is supposed to represent them has chosen not to inform them of their rights.
Last night I shook hands with the son of one of my favorite heroes. The Holocaust Memorial Center in metro Detroit hosted Nick Winton, who gave a most inspiring presentation on the life of his father, Sir Nicholas Winton.
Sir Nicholas, who prefers to be called Nicky, was a 29-year-old London stockbroker who gave up a skiing holiday to visit Prague and witness firsthand the refugees who were fleeing Nazi tyranny. That visit led to his heroic deeds which enabled 669 children to escape.
(Editor’s note: The following cover letter is tongue-in-cheek satire, written after spotting a legitimate job offer online for another Michigan Economic Development Corp. vice president.)
August 28, 2014
Ms. Valerie Hoag
Senior Vice President
Business Development
Michigan Economic Development Corp.
300 N. Washington Square
Lansing, Michigan 48913
Scholars with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, as well as other institutions, have used descriptive statistics in conjunction with empirical evidence to tell stories — sometimes profound ones. A good example of this was published recently by “Opportunity Ohio” and should be explored further.
Michigan Strategic Fund board members voted Tuesday to divert almost three-quarters of a million dollars in local and school taxes to a private entity so that a Redford Township car dealership can upgrade its facilities, MLive reports. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. will give the dealership $719,528 to renovate its building and install a car wash on an adjacent piece of land it owns.
The latest edition of Michigan Education Digest is now available online. Topics include Detroit Public Schools’ overspending crisis, year-round classes and charter public school decisions.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio has written a lengthy commentary about the problems plaguing the UAW — including its defeat at VW’s plant in Chattanooga, a 25 percent dues hike and leadership failures — for Capital Research Center’s “Labor Watch.”
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio is a finalist in Think Freely Media’s “Great Communicators Tournament.” Think Freely Media is a nonprofit organization that assists pro-liberty and pro-free market groups communicate more effectively. You can vote for Vernuccio online through midnight on Sept. 2. A dozen finalists will be chosen to participate in the tournament at the State Policy Network’s annual meeting Sept. 23-26 in Denver.
An Associated Press story about teachers opting out of the Michigan Education Association this month has drawn large-scale attention, appearing in more than 100 news outlets around the country, including The Detroit News, Huffington Post, Education Week, Bloomberg Businessweek, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Antonio News-Express, Townhall, the Las Vegas Sun, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Investor’s Business Daily, the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, the Houston Chronicle, the Albany Times-Union, Salon, Crain’s Detroit Business, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, WJRT-TV12 in Flint and WILX-TV10 in Lansing.
Fox News and The College Fix are reporting on the irony of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm teaching a graduate-level course this fall at the University of California-Berkeley that will focus on “creating jobs through better government policies.”
While the Legislature is on a summer break the Roll Call Report is reviewing key votes of the 2013-2014 session.
Note: There will be no Roll Call Report next week. The House has a session scheduled for Aug. 27, and if there are any noteworthy votes they will be reported in the following week's report.
The Lansing State Journal and WZZM TV-13 in Grand Rapids are both reporting on efforts by Michigan Education Association members to opt out of the union and the roadblocks they are facing. MEA members can visit www.Augustoptout.org for more information.
An analogy used to describe the extent to which a political party is exclusive or inclusive is whether or not it is a “big tent” or a “small tent.” This analogy is most commonly employed in reference to the Republican Party. In essence, the terms “big tent” and “small tent” are used to describe the width and depth of a party’s political appeal.
The new edition of Michigan Education Digest is now available online. Topics include charter public school operations, inaccurate student counts and control of Detroit Public Schools.
Rob Wiersema, a long-time teacher at Hopkins High School in Allegan County, explains in today’s Detroit News why he opted out of the Michigan Education Association. You can find out more about Rob and other teachers who have left the MEA here.
He also wrote about his decision to leave the union in the Lansing State Journal.
Today’s editorial in The Detroit News alerts members of the Michigan Education Association that they only have until the end of August to opt out of the union if they choose to do so. More information can be found at www.Augustoptout.org.
Audrey Spalding, director of education policy, writes about the issue in The Tecumseh Herald.
By Jack McHugh
The Senate held one session this week with several votes on substantive measures. The House remains out until Aug. 27.
Initiated Legislation 2, Preempt referendum banning wolf hunt: Passed 23 to 10 in the Senate
To preempt the effect of a referendum placed on the November ballot by interests opposed to wolf hunting. Specifically, this measure would make “referendum-proof” a 2013 law giving the legislature and Natural Resources Commission exclusive authority to decide which species may be hunted in Michigan. It would do so by making a small change to that law and adding a modest appropriation, which under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling makes the law not subject to referendum. This measure (Initiated Legislation 2) was sponsored by groups in favor of a wolf hunt. If the House also passes it, the initiative banning wolf hunts that has already been approved for the November 2014 ballot will not go into effect, even if a majority of voters approve it.
They 7th edition of “Rich States, Poor States” was released recently and it ranks Michigan 12th best among the 50 states for its “economic outlook” based on 15 public policy variables, such as tax, business and labor policies. The higher position may signal better economic times ahead for Michigan.
Audrey Spalding, director of education policy, writes at Townhall today about the roadblocks unions put in front of members who try to exercise their worker freedom rights, including arbitrary “windows” during which the unions say is the only time members can resign.
This week’s version of Michigan Education Digest is now online. Topics include a year-round school pilot program in Ypsilanti, Flint’s overspending crisis and enrollment declines in northern Michigan school districts.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor of that state, has rolled out a plan that would repeal a number of occupational licensing rules. These standards restrict individuals from engaging in certain commerce without permission from the state (and often include paying extra money, taking tests, and meeting other requirements).
