August 6, 2021
Friends,
As we wind down the summer and head toward the school year, I remain laser-focused on ensuring our students, teachers, and administrators have all the tools they need to have a safe, robust school year.
Among those priorities is working diligently toward creating a track for paraprofessionals to become classroom teachers (you can read more about that below). Even before the COVID-19 pandemic — which put immense strain on our educators — Michigan faced a teacher shortage. Of course, the pandemic only exacerbated the problem.
Additional information I’ve included in this newsletter includes updated guidance from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) regarding COVID-19 school guidance, updated guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), important news about pandemic unemployment overpayments, a notice about an upcoming nationwide test of emergency alert systems, and resources (including unemployment) for folks in Wayne County specifically affected by flooding from the severe storms in late June.
As always, it’s an honor to serve you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance.
Dayna Polehanki
State Senator
7th District
MDHHS Issues Updated COVID-19 School Guidance
On Wednesday, Aug. 4th, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued updated recommendations for schools designed to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 within school buildings, reduce disruptions to in-person learning, and help protect vulnerable individuals and individuals who are not fully vaccinated.
The guidance has been updated to reflect the most current recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on masking and prevention strategies to help operate schools more safely. It also includes information about assessing risk levels when making decisions about implementing layered prevention strategies against COVID-19.
Helping Paraprofessionals Become Teachers
In June, I joined my colleague, Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) to introduce two bills that would create a track for paraprofessionals to become classroom teachers. Many paraprofessional educators would make outstanding teachers because of the firsthand experience they have with our students and understanding the rigors of working in a classroom.
Senate Bills 567 and 568, sponsored by myself and Sen. Geiss, respectively, would create two different tracks for paraprofessionals to become teachers. The bills outline a route for paraprofessionals to get their teacher certification, whether they have an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or no degree at all, and allows them to use their classroom experience to do a limited-term study, rather than a full education program.
In February 2020, before the pandemic, the Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers released a report that revealed newly issued teacher certificates were down nearly 25% between the 2013-2014 and 2017-2018 school years. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the problem, with teachers now retiring faster than they can be replaced.
It’s clear that a teacher shortage has arrived in Michigan and will continue to get worse. My bill will streamline the process by which paraprofessionals can earn their teaching certificate, so that all students can have a high-quality teacher in their classroom.
CDC COVID-19 Guidelines Update
Due to the rise of COVID-19 cases resulting from the Delta variant, the CDC has updated their COVID-19 guidelines for vaccinated individuals:
- Individuals who are fully vaccinated should wear a mask indoors if in an area of substantial or high transmission rates to maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent it from spreading to others.
- Masks should continue to be worn where required by laws, rules, regulations, or local guidance.
If you have not yet been fully vaccinated, click here to locate a vaccine location near you. It is important that we continue to get vaccinated to protect ourselves and each other from the COVID-19 virus and Delta variant.
You may also call (800) 232-0233 or text your ZIP code to 438829 to find locations. For more information, please visit the CDC website.
Eligible Unemployment Claimants Granted Overpayment Waivers
The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) has begun to notify claimants who are no longer eligible to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits that overpayments will be waived.
In June, claimants were asked to requalify for PUA by providing the agency with the necessary information to remain eligible for the federal program. Four PUA COVID-19 eligibility reasons included at the beginning of the pandemic were later found by the U.S. Department of Labor to be non-qualifying. Under federal law, UIA had to re-evaluate PUA eligibility for individuals who selected one of the non-qualifying reasons.
Of the roughly 690,000 claimants that were asked to requalify, about 241,000 responded to the UIA’s request. Waivers will be granted to the initial group of approximately 350,000 non-responses, many of whom may no longer be collecting benefits. Affected claimants will receive notification in their MiWAM account, or by U.S. mail.
Claimants can visit Michigan.gov/UIA to access their MiWAM account to chat with an agent. They can also contact the UIA by phone at 866-500-0017 or schedule a telephone, virtual or in-person appointment.
Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System Set for August 11
FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on Wednesday, Aug. 11 between 2:20 and 2:50 PM.
The national test will consist of two portions, testing WEA and EAS capabilities. The WEA portion of the test will be directed only to consumer cell phones where the subscriber has opted-in to receive test messages. If you have not opted in, you will NOT receive the test. This a test of the infrastructure itself and not the phones, so there is no obligation for you to opt-in to receiving alert messages.
Visit FEMA.gov for more information.
$10 Million in Emergency Relief to Help Residents Recovering from Flood Events
On Friday, July 29, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a plan to utilize $10 million in state general funds to provide emergency relief to households impacted by heavy rainfall and flooding on June 25 and 26. This money will go to families who have already gone through the federal Small Business Administration and FEMA aid process and who did not receive as much support as they needed to rebuild. The dollars for each community in Wayne County, Washtenaw County, and the City of Detroit will be based on initial damage assessments.
The $10 million in general funds is part of a supplemental funding bill, signed by Governor Whitmer on July 26, to be used to assist areas of the state with restoration costs and other expenses resulting from weather-related events that occurred in June 2021. The governor has also requested more than $50 million in federal assistance to repair damaged highways and purchase backup pump station generators.
While this assistance is greatly appreciated, it also highlights the need for continued work to identify the long-term needs that these recent weather events represent and work to address them. At the legislative level, we must make long-term, lasting investments in infrastructure so that we can build our infrastructure back better than before.
I want you to know that I am going to work closely with our congressional delegation to get every penny of federal dollars we can back to Michigan so we can start upgrading our infrastructure as soon as possible and create thousands of good-paying jobs for Michiganders along the way.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance Available for Residents Affected by Severe Storms
Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is available to eligible individuals because of a major disaster declared by the President on July 15, 2021. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency is accepting applications for DUA from individuals in Washtenaw and Wayne Counties whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted due to Severe Storms and Flooding between June 25, 2021, through June 26, 2021. Applications for DUA must be filed by Aug. 23, 2021.
To be eligible for DUA benefits under Presidential Disaster Declaration FEMA-# 4607 DR, individuals:
- Must apply for regular unemployment insurance benefits.
- Must not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state.
- Must be an unemployed or self-unemployed worker whose unemployment was caused as a direct result of the major disaster declared by the President.
- Must be a U.S. national or a qualified alien.
- Must have worked or was self-employed in, or was scheduled to begin work or self-employment in, one of the counties listed above; and,
- Must establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income.
Other individuals eligible to apply for DUA are those who:
- Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of this disaster.
- Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury caused as a direct result of this disaster.
- Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the head of the household as a direct result of this disaster; or,
- Cannot work or perform self-employment due to closure of a facility by the federal government as a direct result of this disaster.
Individuals who may be eligible for assistance, must file a claim by downloading a paper application at Michigan.gov/UIA.