MEA Joins Recall Efforts

By Rick Pluta

The Michigan Education Association intends to put money and people into efforts to recall some Republican lawmakers. The teachers union's main complaints are cuts to school funding and new tenure rules.

Tenure rules adopted last week by the Legislature will make it easier for school districts to fire teachers. Members of the MEA say they're also angry at efforts to force them to pay more for their benefits. The union's Doug Pratt says it's tried to work with some lawmakers on spending and education reforms.

"They are losing out to people in the legislative process who are hell bent on politically attacking school employees and the middle class in general," he says.

Pratt says the union has made a strategic decision not to publicly name the lawmakers it intends to target for recalls. The MEA has 157,000 members and a large political-action fund.

A spokesman for state House Republican leader Jase Bolger says the union is waging war on forces fighting for change at the state Capitol.

"It's not a surprise to hear the MEA is going public with its war on those who are fighting for change in Lansing," Ari Adler says. "We have known for some time now that they've been working behind the scenes on recalls and it's seems as though they wanted to go public before someone outed them."

Jase Bolger is the target of a recall campaign.