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Fund Michigan High Speed Internet Office

AFT Michigan has partnered with the Michigan Farmers Union, The Center for Change Northern Michigan Advocacy Group, and Progress Michigan to shed light on the need for statewide High Speed Internet and demand that the State Legislature fully fund Governor Whitmer’s Michigan High Speed Internet Office. Governor Whitmer created the office in order to address the lack of good High Speed Internet and she has secured the funding for the office, but the legislature has failed to appropriate the funds. 

A press conference was held on February 9, the day of the State Appropriations Committee meeting, to inform the press of the importance of fully funding this office and to help pressure the legislature to follow through with this funding request. Our children, teachers, farmers, businesses, plus local and state economies will all greatly benefit from securing high speed internet everywhere in the state. Contact the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees now so that the vision laid out under the Michigan High Speed Internet Office can become a reality.

Support Great Lakes Coffee Workers: Wednesday, February 16

The workers at Great Lakes Coffee in Royal Oak have organized with UNITEHERE and are on strike at the Woodward location in Detroit. 

If you’re able to join this Wednesday at noon, there is a support rally at the coffee house.

Herold Appointed to UM Presidential Search Committee

Kirsten Herold, president of the Lecturers Employee Organization, AFT Local 6244, and a member of the AFT Michigan Administrative Board, has been appointed by the UM Board of Regents to the committee that will work with the Regents on their search for a new president of the University. Well-deserved congratulations to Kirsten and thank you to the Board for recognizing the need for labor’s voice to be heard in the process.

Worried about the Future Teacher Pipeline? Pay Student Teachers

My February column in the Michigan Advance calls for paying student teachers as one of many things our state should do better to build the profession. Thank you to Governor Whitmer, who has included a proposal to compensate student teachers in her budget proposal.

Lt. Gov. Gilchrist Fires Up Presidents’ Council

We had a great Presidents’ Council meeting Saturday, with nearly 40 locals from across the state represented. We were lucky to be joined by Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who gathered feedback from local leaders and talked about the budget process and upcoming elections. We also talked about the upcoming AFT Michigan Convention, health and safety bargaining issues, the importance of data for strong unions, and what we can all be doing to be more effective.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Upcoming Union-Building Workshops

WorkshopDateStartEnd 
Delegation, Feedback & Accountability (2 Sessions)Thursday, February 24 & March 3, 20225:00 PM6:30 PM

Professional Development 

AFT Michigan 

Universal Design for Learning

March 5, 2022

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

In this workshop participants will learn how to use learner variability as a way to understand and address individual students’ learning needs. Participants will have an opportunity to apply principles of universal design to reduce barriers for students in the educational environment, assessments, methods and materials.  There will also be an opportunity to learn how the Danielson Framework for Teaching Four Domains (Teacher Evaluation) is embedded in Universal Design for Learning.

Participants will earn 6 SCECHs after completion of the workshop.

Click here to register.

Share my Lesson

HISTORY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE POWER OF ONE

The Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Curriculum

Feb. 14 is Frederick Douglass’ birthday. Use this K-16 unit to teach about his life and legacy and how they relate even today to gender stereotypes, education as freedom, and more.

Presidents Day

Find engaging preK-12 lessons and activities in this updated collection, including presidential scandals and odd facts. Did you know President Nixon used lip balms as spying devices?

Tools to Support Media Literacy

Share My Lesson is excited to share resources from our newest educational content partner, NewsGuard. They feature tools and resources to help students in grades 6-12 develop their media literacy skills. For example, NewsGuard provides trust ratings for 7,500+ news and information sites – written by trained journalists based on nine apolitical journalistic criteria. They include what standards each site uses in creating its content, who’s behind the site, how it’s funded, and whether you can trust it.

Download these free NewsGuard educational resources–now available to Share My Lesson members–to help you teach media literacy to your students.

In solidarity, 

David Hecker

President

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