MEA – Retired

August 2016 MEA-Retired Tribune Newsletter

Join a Protest Near You on August 3   Let’s make our voices heard! Across Michigan on Wednesday, Aug. 3, MEA and AFT Michigan members will gather together in their communities to protest Gov. Rick Snyder’s frivolous appeal of a court ruling that school employees are owed 3% of their salary that the state illegally stole from paychecks. Below–Find a protest site near you, and sign up to join in! We need a big turnout to send a loud message! Snyder’s decision to appeal is just another example of the wrong priorities that Snyder and his allies have about public education. School employees are fed up with Snyder’s constant disrespect and attacks on educators and public education. It’s time to gather together and make our voices heard and to advocate for the public schools that Michigan students deserve. Find a location near you: Detroit – Cadillac Place (outside Snyder’s Detroit office -3044 W Grand Blvd) 12 noon-2:00 p.m. Southfield – Southfield High School (24675 Lahser Rd) – 10:30 a.m.-Noon. Lansing – Adado Riverfront Park/Lansing Community College (300 N Grand Ave) – 2-5 p.m. Grand Rapids – Corner of 28th Street and the East Beltline – 4-6 p.m. Kalamazoo – MEA Kalamazoo Office (4341 South Westnedge, Ste 1210) – 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Flint – Genesee Valley Mall (Linden Rd entrance, 3341 Linden Rd) – 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Mt. Pleasant – Central Michigan University campus (corner of Mission and Bellows) – 2-5 p.m. Traverse City – MEA Traverse City Office (1745 Barlow) – 12 noon – 1:00 p.m. Marquette – Marquette Post Office (corner of Washington and 3rd) – 10:00 a.m. – 12 noon Escanaba – Delta County Court House (310 Ludington St) – Noon-1 p.m. (Eastern time). MEA Summer Leadership MEA-Retired chapter presidents attended the Summer Leadership conference in Sault Saint Marie July 26-29. Wednesday, presidents had an all day workshop learning information which will assist them in their leadership role for 2016-17. Some presidents chose to learn how to set up and maintain a chapter websites while the remainder learned about communicating with members. Branko Bojicic from Blue Cross Blue Shield spoke to the group about our insurance for 2017. Mona Tropf from MESSA shared information about keeping ourselves healthy both physically and mentally. Christina Canfield, MEA Lobbyist, brought the group up-to-date on current legislation and what might be coming up. Time was also spent sharing ideas. Did You Know Grand Valley and Central Michigan are the only two charter school authorizers, out of 45 colleges and universities, who may open a school in Detroit. The Detroit education legislation requires authorizers to have gone through a national accreditation process. The failure of Michigan charter authorizers to meet the standards of the national charter school authorizers group has been highlighted previously by Education Trust-Midwest and the Coalition for the Future of Detroit School children. Medicare reports a group of researches has successfully reversed memory loss for a small number of people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers developed the MEND program, which adjusts an individual’s diet, sleep, medications, and brain stimulation. This multi-point approach targets memory loss from different angles. One participant’s long-term memory recall increased from three percent to 84 percent over the past 22 months. Another participant regained her ability to speak in a foreign language she had previously had trouble remembering. Although the study only included 10 participants, the researchers are confident that the results have larger implications for the treatment of memory loss. On July 30, 2016, Medicare celebrated 51 years since it was signed into law. In those 50 years, Medicare has provided guaranteed health benefits to millions of older adults and people with disabilities. Today, more than 55 million Americans and their families rely on Medicare for basic health and economic security. Calendar August 2, 2016 – State of Michigan Primary September 14, 2016 – MEA-Retired Board Meeting November 8, 2016 – General Election Day

Source: MEA – Retired