Original Story: freep.com
Michigan's 15 public universities are hoping to convince legislators to establish "consistent and sufficient" funding in this year's budget cycle, even as requests grow to use spare state money to deal with crises in Flint and the Detroit Public Schools.
"We received assurances that higher education will be a higher than average priority," Daniel Hurley, the CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities, told the Free Press. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to announce his budget for 2016-17 on Feb. 10. An Atlanta education lawyer is following this story closely.
The association, which lobbies lawmakers on behalf of the public universities, recently published its legislative policy priorities. They center on making universities affordable and improving success for students.
The document outlines a number of policy positions — including making sure the universities retain their autonomy to control their campus on issues like how to handle sexual assaults on campuses.
The association also wants to get rid of a tuition cap, or restraint, lawmakers have put on the schools in recent years.
"The arrangement, known as 'tuition restraint' or 'tuition caps' can actually work against state and institutional objectives to keep college affordable and improve student success," the report says. "The utilization of state-imposed price controls on tuition in an era of dwindling or static state appropriations hamstrings the ability of universities to drive resources into academic and student support areas that would in turn improve their performance on state metrics.
"Other flaws associated with state-imposed caps on tuition increases include the fact that the impact on universities varies greatly based on the institutions’ base dollar tuition prices, and that they punish institutions that have historically kept tuition rates lower." A nursing degree equips students with theory-based knowledge and skills to work in many of the new and expanding fields of healthcare and nursing.
But its three highest priorities center on money coming from the state.
It wants to see the state increase its state-based financial aid for students, increase state operating support and provide money for capital improvements on campuses.
"Constructing technologically and environmentally sophisticated campus facilities requires a financing partnership between the state and its public universities," the report says. "Unfortunately, the state has significantly reduced the amount of capital construction money it has invested in its state university campuses. Capital outlay funding bills are ad hoc and irregular in nature. Only two university projects have received planning authorization since 2010."
There are no specific dollar amounts attached to each priority.
"We are not being specific in requests," Hurley said. "We want them to do what they can do. We're trying to encourage them to take a long-term view of investing in higher education."
Showing posts with label Detroit public schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit public schools. Show all posts
03 February 2016
01 December 2015
MICH. SCHOOL DISTRICTS STRUGGLE WITH ABSENTEE STUDENTS
Original Story: detroitnews.com
In some Michigan school districts, half or more of students are chronically absent, according to newly released state data.
In Detroit Public Schools, nearly two of three students (64.8 percent) missed at least 10 days in 2014-15, according to statistics issued Friday by the state Center for Educational Performance and Information. Michigan considers students who miss 10 or more days of school a year chronically absent.
Other districts with high rates include Benton Harbor (48.4 percent), Flint (54.2 percent), River Rouge (57.2 percent) and Pontiac (48.6 percent). All are in communities where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line, according to census data. A Harrisonburg education lawyer represents clients in education law matters.
Rural districts are not immune. The Whittemore-Prescott Area Schools in northeastern lower Michigan, where three-quarters of the students qualify for free and reduced lunches, has a chronically absent rate of 38.5 percent.
Even some districts with less poverty struggle with high absentee rates. More than half of the districts in Wayne and Macomb counties are at 25 percent or higher, including some in relatively prosperous communities such as Wyandotte (35.4 percent) and St. Clair Shores (Lakeview Public Schools, 30.1 percent).
By contrast, the district with the lowest rate in Metro Detroit is one of the state’s wealthiest, Birmingham, where 3.5 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Just 12 percent of Birmingham students were chronically absent during the last school year.
A new Michigan law that takes effect in June aims to encourage attendance by allowing the state to halt welfare benefits to families whose children are chronically absent.
Supporters say the measure will force parents to be sure their children go to school; advocates for the poor and some educators say the law is punitive and will end up hurting the children it’s trying to help.
“I do not see this as a big cost-saving measure for the state of Michigan; rather, a way to encourage attendance,” said Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, who sponsored the measure that became Public Act 56. “The best defense against poverty is a good education, and that only happens when a child is in class. It’s about opportunity.”
Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, D-Detroit, calls the law “punitive and wrong.”
“Public Act 56 ... deprives the other members of the family needed assistance based on the actions of just one member of the family,” she said.
Under the measure, a family would lose eligibility for cash aid if a child between 6 and 15 doesn’t meet attendance requirements. Dependent children 16 or older who haven’t graduated from high school would lose aid if they don’t meet the requirements.
Cash assistance would be restored if a student shows up for 21 straight school days. The law codifies a policy enforced since 2012 by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Officials with some of the districts with the highest absentee rates did not respond to requests for comment by The Detroit News, including Detroit, Flint and River Rouge.
District representatives interviewed by The News say they are trying to tackle problems that cause students to miss school. A Lexington education lawyer assist clients with grant applications, school funding matters, and in contract disputes.
Poverty can produce numerous factors that cause chronic absenteeism, said Kelley Williams, Pontiac schools superintendent.
“Some of the reasons we’ve heard are homelessness, lack of transportation, illness, not having clothes/uniforms or school supplies, parent illnesses and lack of employment,” said Williams.
“Our success coaches work with the families to identify and remove these barriers,” she said. “They can provide uniforms, or for example, if a family is homeless, they find out why, refer them to the homeless student liaison, and connect them with outside agencies that can assist.”
Staff members work with the parents of sick students to ensure children get healthy and return to classes sooner.
Chronic absenteeism in Pontiac has remained stubbornly high — its rate in 2012-13 was virtually identical, at 48.4 percent. A Boston education lawyer is following the details of this story.
In the Clintondale Community Schools, building administrators reach out to students and parents when attendance falls off. Once students returns, teachers help them get back up to speed.
“Today’s teachers are placing more resources online in order to better accommodate students who have difficult circumstances and are also spending time after school to catch students up,” Superintendent Greg Green said.
The approach seems to be paying off in the Macomb County district, where the rate of chronic absences fell from 53 percent in 2012-13 to 48.7 percent in 2014-15.
Joseph Perrera, Whittemore-Prescott superintendent, said the distance some students have to travel to the rural district’s two schools may contribute to its high rate of absenteeism. The district is south of Highway 55, between West Branch and Tawas City.
“This is a beautiful area of farmland, and all of our students are bused,” he said. “So if they miss a bus and the parents can’t bring them, that can be an issue.”
Perrera added that “both principals are actively trying to communicate with parents. I do know that they reach out.”
In the Ecorse Public Schools, the rate of chronic absence edged upward from 46.2 percent in 2011-12 to 48.1 percent in 2014-15, though it’s below that of neighboring River Rouge, a community with similar demographics.
Ecorse Superintendent Thomas Parker said the district is using a holistic approach to encourage regular class attendance. A Boston education lawyer has extensive experience in advising public and private educational institutions.
At Ecorse High School, each student meets daily with a “caring adult” who tracks attendance and helps set academic and cultural goals. In elementary schools, teachers watch attendance data and call parents to “identify how and why students are not in school,” Parker said.
The key, he added, is making students feel others care about them. “We do not do this in a negative way,” he said.
Many school officials and education experts argue that approach is more likely to boost attendance than cutting aid to the families of truant students.
“It is unfair to families with multiple children who may have one child who refuses to follow the attendance rules,” said Kevin M. Ivers, superintendent of the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency, which includes Benton Harbor schools. An Idaho education attorney assists clients with board governance, bylaw, and premises liability issues.
Kenneth Wong, chairman of the education department at Brown University, calls withholding payments a “fairly drastic measure.”
“I am not aware that many states are taking this approach,” he said. “If Michigan is implementing this strategy, perhaps local and state agencies can build in a multistage process, which may include warnings, home visitation, coaching, community partnership, and then ultimately withholding welfare payments.”
To Percy Bates, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Michigan, Public Act 56 is “misdirected.”
“... This proposal is not likely to encourage greater school attendance,” he said. “In fact, withholding welfare payments from these families is likely to increase truancy rather than produce the apparent desired consequence.” An Atlanta education lawyer is following this story closely.
Pscholka, the law’s sponsor, said he saw the need for state action during years of mentoring students in the Benton Harbor schools.
“Teachers complained constantly about truancy, and how they had no chance of educating the children when they were missing,” he said. “They thought this would be a great incentive for parents.”
Pscholka argues that some adults need to be persuaded to get their children to school each day: “Responsible parenting is the key to breaking this cycle.”
In some Michigan school districts, half or more of students are chronically absent, according to newly released state data.
In Detroit Public Schools, nearly two of three students (64.8 percent) missed at least 10 days in 2014-15, according to statistics issued Friday by the state Center for Educational Performance and Information. Michigan considers students who miss 10 or more days of school a year chronically absent.
Other districts with high rates include Benton Harbor (48.4 percent), Flint (54.2 percent), River Rouge (57.2 percent) and Pontiac (48.6 percent). All are in communities where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line, according to census data. A Harrisonburg education lawyer represents clients in education law matters.
Rural districts are not immune. The Whittemore-Prescott Area Schools in northeastern lower Michigan, where three-quarters of the students qualify for free and reduced lunches, has a chronically absent rate of 38.5 percent.
Even some districts with less poverty struggle with high absentee rates. More than half of the districts in Wayne and Macomb counties are at 25 percent or higher, including some in relatively prosperous communities such as Wyandotte (35.4 percent) and St. Clair Shores (Lakeview Public Schools, 30.1 percent).
By contrast, the district with the lowest rate in Metro Detroit is one of the state’s wealthiest, Birmingham, where 3.5 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Just 12 percent of Birmingham students were chronically absent during the last school year.
A new Michigan law that takes effect in June aims to encourage attendance by allowing the state to halt welfare benefits to families whose children are chronically absent.
Supporters say the measure will force parents to be sure their children go to school; advocates for the poor and some educators say the law is punitive and will end up hurting the children it’s trying to help.
“I do not see this as a big cost-saving measure for the state of Michigan; rather, a way to encourage attendance,” said Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, who sponsored the measure that became Public Act 56. “The best defense against poverty is a good education, and that only happens when a child is in class. It’s about opportunity.”
Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, D-Detroit, calls the law “punitive and wrong.”
“Public Act 56 ... deprives the other members of the family needed assistance based on the actions of just one member of the family,” she said.
Under the measure, a family would lose eligibility for cash aid if a child between 6 and 15 doesn’t meet attendance requirements. Dependent children 16 or older who haven’t graduated from high school would lose aid if they don’t meet the requirements.
Cash assistance would be restored if a student shows up for 21 straight school days. The law codifies a policy enforced since 2012 by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Officials with some of the districts with the highest absentee rates did not respond to requests for comment by The Detroit News, including Detroit, Flint and River Rouge.
District representatives interviewed by The News say they are trying to tackle problems that cause students to miss school. A Lexington education lawyer assist clients with grant applications, school funding matters, and in contract disputes.
Poverty can produce numerous factors that cause chronic absenteeism, said Kelley Williams, Pontiac schools superintendent.
“Some of the reasons we’ve heard are homelessness, lack of transportation, illness, not having clothes/uniforms or school supplies, parent illnesses and lack of employment,” said Williams.
“Our success coaches work with the families to identify and remove these barriers,” she said. “They can provide uniforms, or for example, if a family is homeless, they find out why, refer them to the homeless student liaison, and connect them with outside agencies that can assist.”
Staff members work with the parents of sick students to ensure children get healthy and return to classes sooner.
Chronic absenteeism in Pontiac has remained stubbornly high — its rate in 2012-13 was virtually identical, at 48.4 percent. A Boston education lawyer is following the details of this story.
In the Clintondale Community Schools, building administrators reach out to students and parents when attendance falls off. Once students returns, teachers help them get back up to speed.
“Today’s teachers are placing more resources online in order to better accommodate students who have difficult circumstances and are also spending time after school to catch students up,” Superintendent Greg Green said.
The approach seems to be paying off in the Macomb County district, where the rate of chronic absences fell from 53 percent in 2012-13 to 48.7 percent in 2014-15.
Joseph Perrera, Whittemore-Prescott superintendent, said the distance some students have to travel to the rural district’s two schools may contribute to its high rate of absenteeism. The district is south of Highway 55, between West Branch and Tawas City.
“This is a beautiful area of farmland, and all of our students are bused,” he said. “So if they miss a bus and the parents can’t bring them, that can be an issue.”
Perrera added that “both principals are actively trying to communicate with parents. I do know that they reach out.”
In the Ecorse Public Schools, the rate of chronic absence edged upward from 46.2 percent in 2011-12 to 48.1 percent in 2014-15, though it’s below that of neighboring River Rouge, a community with similar demographics.
Ecorse Superintendent Thomas Parker said the district is using a holistic approach to encourage regular class attendance. A Boston education lawyer has extensive experience in advising public and private educational institutions.
At Ecorse High School, each student meets daily with a “caring adult” who tracks attendance and helps set academic and cultural goals. In elementary schools, teachers watch attendance data and call parents to “identify how and why students are not in school,” Parker said.
The key, he added, is making students feel others care about them. “We do not do this in a negative way,” he said.
Many school officials and education experts argue that approach is more likely to boost attendance than cutting aid to the families of truant students.
“It is unfair to families with multiple children who may have one child who refuses to follow the attendance rules,” said Kevin M. Ivers, superintendent of the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency, which includes Benton Harbor schools. An Idaho education attorney assists clients with board governance, bylaw, and premises liability issues.
Kenneth Wong, chairman of the education department at Brown University, calls withholding payments a “fairly drastic measure.”
“I am not aware that many states are taking this approach,” he said. “If Michigan is implementing this strategy, perhaps local and state agencies can build in a multistage process, which may include warnings, home visitation, coaching, community partnership, and then ultimately withholding welfare payments.”
To Percy Bates, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Michigan, Public Act 56 is “misdirected.”
“... This proposal is not likely to encourage greater school attendance,” he said. “In fact, withholding welfare payments from these families is likely to increase truancy rather than produce the apparent desired consequence.” An Atlanta education lawyer is following this story closely.
Pscholka, the law’s sponsor, said he saw the need for state action during years of mentoring students in the Benton Harbor schools.
“Teachers complained constantly about truancy, and how they had no chance of educating the children when they were missing,” he said. “They thought this would be a great incentive for parents.”
Pscholka argues that some adults need to be persuaded to get their children to school each day: “Responsible parenting is the key to breaking this cycle.”
13 April 2015
DPS PILES UP STATE'S BIGGEST PENSION LIABILITY
Original Story: detroitnews.com
Cash-strapped Detroit Public Schools could be $81 million behind on its mandatory state pension contributions by July 1 if the district does not resume full payments soon, state officials say.
Michigan's largest school district has not made a payment since October, and has been building a delinquent balance with the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System since October 2010, said Kurt Weiss, spokesman for the state's retirement services office. A Detroit employee benefits lawyer is following this story closely.
During the past 51 months, 60 percent of the time the Detroit school district has been an average of $7 million behind on Michigan retirement system payments, according to state records. The district is incurring $7,600 a day in interest penalties and a $78,000 monthly fee for its delinquency, Weiss said.
"DPS' largest historical balance is their current outstanding balance of $53 million," he said.
While DPS is behind on its payments, the $38 billion MPSERS serving 204,000 retirees statewide is not in danger of missing pension payments to Detroit schools retirees, Weiss said. Like an unpaid credit card, the interest penalties and monthly fees are added to the district's total balance owed to the state school retirement system.
Like other school districts in Michigan, Detroit Public Schools is saddled with a long-term liability toward the pensions and health care of existing and former employees. It consumes one in every seven dollars the district spends in its roughly $700 million annual operating budget.
Most charter schools — independent public schools sponsored mostly by universities — and the Education Achievement Authority, which runs 15 former Detroit schools, do not participate in the state pension plan.
The Snyder administration legally could withhold state aid from Detroit Public Schools to make up for the missed pension payments. But state officials have been reluctant to do so, privately fearing it would trigger a cash crunch for the Detroit school system and lead to payless paydays for employees, teachers walking off the job or a default on debt payments. A Detroit employee benefits lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
In addition to pensions, the Detroit district is saddled with $56 million in annual debt service payments, most of which stem from a $300 million refinancing scheme former Emergency Manager Roy Roberts engineered in 2012 to roll several past debts into one repayment.
Roberts' successor says payment toward debt is made before all other creditors, to ensure the district doesn't default on the bonds.
"The debt has to be paid, so what results from that is you have a long list of creditors and you have vendors who are three and four months behind in receiving payments," said Jack Martin, who was emergency manager until January. An Encino CPA provides professional accounting services to clients with pension and profit-sharing plans.
The Detroit News first reported Feb. 19 that the Snyder administration is exploring ways to relieve the district of that debt burden. Snyder set aside $75 million in his School Aid budget for assisting Detroit and other financially distressed school districts.
But a Republican-controlled House committee eliminated the increased funding for distressed school districts in a budget plan approved Tuesday. A GOP-dominated Senate committee voted Wednesday for $8.9 million, more than doubling the existing $4 million fund for distressed schools.
"It's probably the thing that needs to be done, but it should be taken care of out of the general fund as opposed to on the backs of the other kids in the state," said David Martell, executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials.
Pension delinquencies
Detroit Public Schools is one of five school districts and a charter school that are behind on payments to the state's pension fund. They include:
Cash-strapped Detroit Public Schools could be $81 million behind on its mandatory state pension contributions by July 1 if the district does not resume full payments soon, state officials say.
Michigan's largest school district has not made a payment since October, and has been building a delinquent balance with the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System since October 2010, said Kurt Weiss, spokesman for the state's retirement services office. A Detroit employee benefits lawyer is following this story closely.
During the past 51 months, 60 percent of the time the Detroit school district has been an average of $7 million behind on Michigan retirement system payments, according to state records. The district is incurring $7,600 a day in interest penalties and a $78,000 monthly fee for its delinquency, Weiss said.
"DPS' largest historical balance is their current outstanding balance of $53 million," he said.
While DPS is behind on its payments, the $38 billion MPSERS serving 204,000 retirees statewide is not in danger of missing pension payments to Detroit schools retirees, Weiss said. Like an unpaid credit card, the interest penalties and monthly fees are added to the district's total balance owed to the state school retirement system.
Like other school districts in Michigan, Detroit Public Schools is saddled with a long-term liability toward the pensions and health care of existing and former employees. It consumes one in every seven dollars the district spends in its roughly $700 million annual operating budget.
Most charter schools — independent public schools sponsored mostly by universities — and the Education Achievement Authority, which runs 15 former Detroit schools, do not participate in the state pension plan.
The Snyder administration legally could withhold state aid from Detroit Public Schools to make up for the missed pension payments. But state officials have been reluctant to do so, privately fearing it would trigger a cash crunch for the Detroit school system and lead to payless paydays for employees, teachers walking off the job or a default on debt payments. A Detroit employee benefits lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
In addition to pensions, the Detroit district is saddled with $56 million in annual debt service payments, most of which stem from a $300 million refinancing scheme former Emergency Manager Roy Roberts engineered in 2012 to roll several past debts into one repayment.
Roberts' successor says payment toward debt is made before all other creditors, to ensure the district doesn't default on the bonds.
"The debt has to be paid, so what results from that is you have a long list of creditors and you have vendors who are three and four months behind in receiving payments," said Jack Martin, who was emergency manager until January. An Encino CPA provides professional accounting services to clients with pension and profit-sharing plans.
The Detroit News first reported Feb. 19 that the Snyder administration is exploring ways to relieve the district of that debt burden. Snyder set aside $75 million in his School Aid budget for assisting Detroit and other financially distressed school districts.
But a Republican-controlled House committee eliminated the increased funding for distressed school districts in a budget plan approved Tuesday. A GOP-dominated Senate committee voted Wednesday for $8.9 million, more than doubling the existing $4 million fund for distressed schools.
"It's probably the thing that needs to be done, but it should be taken care of out of the general fund as opposed to on the backs of the other kids in the state," said David Martell, executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials.
Pension delinquencies
Detroit Public Schools is one of five school districts and a charter school that are behind on payments to the state's pension fund. They include:
- Detroit: $52.7 million
- Flint: $11.8 million
- Pontiac: $3.8 million
- Muskegon Heights: $1.9 million
- Highland Park: $719,702
- New Branches School (Grand Rapids): $128,951
20 May 2010
High Lead Levels Hurt Learning for DPS Kids
The Detroit Free Press
More than half of students tested have poisoning history
More than half of the students tested in Detroit Public Schools have a history of lead poisoning, which affects brain function for life, according to data compiled by city health and education officials.
The data also show, for the first time in Detroit, a link between higher lead levels and poor academic performance. About 60% of DPS students who performed below their grade level on 2008 standardized tests had elevated lead levels.
The higher the lead levels, the lower the MEAP scores, though other factors also may play a role.
The research -- the result of an unusual collaboration between the city's Department of Health & Wellness Promotion and DPS -- also reveals that children receiving special education were more likely to have lead poisoning.
The data, involving tens of thousands of city children, underscore the persistent and troubling legacy of lead, even as the overall number of lead cases continues to fall in Detroit and across the nation.
June Jackson didn't realize until it was too late that her daughter Taylor, now 12, had high lead levels as a toddler. "I feel bad, like it's my fault," Jackson said. The girl receives special education and still struggles with reading and memory problems, which her mother attributes to lead.
"For years, we've blamed the schools and the teachers for kids failing," said Brenda Gelman-Berkowitz, a school social worker for the district. These new findings, she said, show the answer may be more complicated. "We haven't seen this connection with lead before. But I see evidence of it everywhere."
Nightmare of lead a reality for many families in Detroit
Reggie Cureton doesn't recall pulling bits of lead paint off the wall near his crib as a toddler and eating it. For a long time, his parents didn't notice.
He was a bright baby who sat up early, walked early and recognized letters and colors early. But between the ages of 1 and 2, a blood test showed he had 21 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood -- more than double the level of concern set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now 9, Reggie is great at building with Legos but struggles with reading, memory and paying attention.
Reggie's challenges are familiar to his mother, Jeanine, who has her own history of lead contamination -- and to generations of families living in Detroit. Despite significant declines in Detroit, thousands of children continue to be diagnosed with lead poisoning each year, a by-product of older homes with lead-based paint, pervasive poverty and an often unhealthy diet.
'These numbers are scary'
Now, a landmark study by the city health department and Detroit Public Schools of lead data and test scores shows that the higher the lead level, the worse a student's scores on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program exam, or MEAP.
Overall, 58% of roughly 39,000 DPS students tested -- 22,755 children -- had a history of lead poisoning, according to the study.
Perhaps more startling: Of the 39,199 students tested as young children, only 23 had no lead in their bodies.
"These numbers are scary," said Lyke Thompson, a Wayne State University professor who has studied lead poisoning in Detroit for more than a decade.
The correlation between high lead levels and low test scores carries particular resonance in Detroit, where students have fared poorly on academic achievement tests.
DPS students ranked last in the nation in 2009 on the National Assessment of Education Progress math test for fourth- and eighth-graders. The city's MEAP scores are consistently among the lowest in the state.
"This is a crisis," said Carole Ann Beaman, disabilities coordinator for DPS. "There is a clear connection between lead poisoning and academic problems, which is relevant to understanding achievement gaps and why schools are failing."
Other factors -- including poverty and parents' level of education -- may play a role. But the impact of lead on test scores has lingered in the shadows. Until now.
DPS emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said lead exposure is one factor that leaves some kids poorly prepared for school.
"Schools can be partners by, among other things, emphasizing reading early, as we have done, ensuring healthy foods in the cafeteria and making certain that physical education is universal," Bobb said. "Sadly, these results are not a surprise," said Marie Lynn Miranda, a former Detroiter and director of the Children's Environmental Health Initiative at Duke University.
No level is safe
In 1991, the CDC set 10 micrograms as its level of concern for lead in children, but dozens of studies have shown brain damage at lower levels.
Many experts count kids with levels of 5 micrograms as lead-poisoned. The CDC said in 2005 that there is no safe level of lead for children. Although there are many ways children are exposed, most cases are from paint in homes.
Last year, more than 5,000 cases of lead poisoning were diagnosed in Detroit children younger than 6. More than 800 of those kids had lead levels of 10 micrograms or higher.
Exposure to lead in young children damages developing brains -- and its effects are permanent, so once a child has high levels, the harm is done. Detroit has long led the state in lead poisoning, consistently accounting for more than 50% of Michigan's cases.
"This is an educational crisis, and we should be doing something about it," said Randall Raymond, geographic information specialist for DPS who helped analyze the data.
School and health officials compared lead levels in children with student test scores on the 2008 MEAP exam to determine whether lead affected academic performance.
Such studies are rare because medical records are confidential. Schools usually don't know which kids are poisoned.
Analysts were able to find lead test results for nearly half the current students in DPS (not every child is tested) and determine the schools and areas of the cities most affected.
Results also showed that kids in special education had higher lead levels.
WSU nursing professor Lisa Chiodo studied a group of Detroit children from birth to age 20. The study showed that kids with higher lead levels had lower IQs -- findings consistent with decades of research nationally.
Children with lead poisoning can become discouraged. One study found these students are seven times more likely to drop out than those with low levels.
Because of problems with learning and memory, these children tend to be easily frustrated, inattentive and withdrawn, Chiodo said. By adolescence, this frustration can turn to aggression or delinquency.
Chiodo said it's time to do something to help. "We need curriculums for lead-exposed kids," Chiodo said. "We need interventions."
The data also show, for the first time in Detroit, a link between higher lead levels and poor academic performance. About 60% of DPS students who performed below their grade level on 2008 standardized tests had elevated lead levels.
The higher the lead levels, the lower the MEAP scores, though other factors also may play a role.
The research -- the result of an unusual collaboration between the city's Department of Health & Wellness Promotion and DPS -- also reveals that children receiving special education were more likely to have lead poisoning.
The data, involving tens of thousands of city children, underscore the persistent and troubling legacy of lead, even as the overall number of lead cases continues to fall in Detroit and across the nation.
June Jackson didn't realize until it was too late that her daughter Taylor, now 12, had high lead levels as a toddler. "I feel bad, like it's my fault," Jackson said. The girl receives special education and still struggles with reading and memory problems, which her mother attributes to lead.
"For years, we've blamed the schools and the teachers for kids failing," said Brenda Gelman-Berkowitz, a school social worker for the district. These new findings, she said, show the answer may be more complicated. "We haven't seen this connection with lead before. But I see evidence of it everywhere."
Nightmare of lead a reality for many families in Detroit
Reggie Cureton doesn't recall pulling bits of lead paint off the wall near his crib as a toddler and eating it. For a long time, his parents didn't notice.
He was a bright baby who sat up early, walked early and recognized letters and colors early. But between the ages of 1 and 2, a blood test showed he had 21 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood -- more than double the level of concern set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now 9, Reggie is great at building with Legos but struggles with reading, memory and paying attention.
Reggie's challenges are familiar to his mother, Jeanine, who has her own history of lead contamination -- and to generations of families living in Detroit. Despite significant declines in Detroit, thousands of children continue to be diagnosed with lead poisoning each year, a by-product of older homes with lead-based paint, pervasive poverty and an often unhealthy diet.
'These numbers are scary'
Now, a landmark study by the city health department and Detroit Public Schools of lead data and test scores shows that the higher the lead level, the worse a student's scores on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program exam, or MEAP.
Overall, 58% of roughly 39,000 DPS students tested -- 22,755 children -- had a history of lead poisoning, according to the study.
Perhaps more startling: Of the 39,199 students tested as young children, only 23 had no lead in their bodies.
"These numbers are scary," said Lyke Thompson, a Wayne State University professor who has studied lead poisoning in Detroit for more than a decade.
The correlation between high lead levels and low test scores carries particular resonance in Detroit, where students have fared poorly on academic achievement tests.
DPS students ranked last in the nation in 2009 on the National Assessment of Education Progress math test for fourth- and eighth-graders. The city's MEAP scores are consistently among the lowest in the state.
"This is a crisis," said Carole Ann Beaman, disabilities coordinator for DPS. "There is a clear connection between lead poisoning and academic problems, which is relevant to understanding achievement gaps and why schools are failing."
Other factors -- including poverty and parents' level of education -- may play a role. But the impact of lead on test scores has lingered in the shadows. Until now.
DPS emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said lead exposure is one factor that leaves some kids poorly prepared for school.
"Schools can be partners by, among other things, emphasizing reading early, as we have done, ensuring healthy foods in the cafeteria and making certain that physical education is universal," Bobb said. "Sadly, these results are not a surprise," said Marie Lynn Miranda, a former Detroiter and director of the Children's Environmental Health Initiative at Duke University.
No level is safe
In 1991, the CDC set 10 micrograms as its level of concern for lead in children, but dozens of studies have shown brain damage at lower levels.
Many experts count kids with levels of 5 micrograms as lead-poisoned. The CDC said in 2005 that there is no safe level of lead for children. Although there are many ways children are exposed, most cases are from paint in homes.
Last year, more than 5,000 cases of lead poisoning were diagnosed in Detroit children younger than 6. More than 800 of those kids had lead levels of 10 micrograms or higher.
Exposure to lead in young children damages developing brains -- and its effects are permanent, so once a child has high levels, the harm is done. Detroit has long led the state in lead poisoning, consistently accounting for more than 50% of Michigan's cases.
"This is an educational crisis, and we should be doing something about it," said Randall Raymond, geographic information specialist for DPS who helped analyze the data.
School and health officials compared lead levels in children with student test scores on the 2008 MEAP exam to determine whether lead affected academic performance.
Such studies are rare because medical records are confidential. Schools usually don't know which kids are poisoned.
Analysts were able to find lead test results for nearly half the current students in DPS (not every child is tested) and determine the schools and areas of the cities most affected.
Results also showed that kids in special education had higher lead levels.
WSU nursing professor Lisa Chiodo studied a group of Detroit children from birth to age 20. The study showed that kids with higher lead levels had lower IQs -- findings consistent with decades of research nationally.
Children with lead poisoning can become discouraged. One study found these students are seven times more likely to drop out than those with low levels.
Because of problems with learning and memory, these children tend to be easily frustrated, inattentive and withdrawn, Chiodo said. By adolescence, this frustration can turn to aggression or delinquency.
Chiodo said it's time to do something to help. "We need curriculums for lead-exposed kids," Chiodo said. "We need interventions."
A family affected
The Cureton family is well aware of the damage lead causes.
Mom Jeanine Cureton, now 26, was 2 1/2 when she was diagnosed with lead poisoning so severe she needed chelation, injections of chemicals that draw lead from the body. Her lead level was 87 micrograms.
"They told my mom not to expect much from me as far as learning ability," she said. "But I had a praying mom who worked with me."
Cureton didn't finish high school, reads at a grade-school level and struggles with memory problems, but she hopes to finish her education and dreams of being a nurse.
When their son Reggie was diagnosed as a toddler with lead poisoning, she and her husband, Reginald, thought they were doing all the right things, including frequently mopping floors and window sills to keep lead dust down.
But their second son, Maurice, now 7, also had high lead levels. The culprit was lead dust in the home's carpet, an assessment found.
That was two houses ago.
The foreclosed house they bought in March has lead, too, tests show. The family hopes to remediate it with the help of ClearCorps, a nonprofit program that tests homes and helps families get rid of lead by stripping, sanding and repainting walls and trim.
In the meantime, the parents say they do everything they can to keep their youngest children from getting lead poisoning, and they work to stimulate the brains of the two oldest.
They also moved the older boys out of DPS -- where Reggie had been having difficulties -- to the private Detroit Merit Academy, where students get fruit and veggie snacks, journals to log how much they read at home and specialized learning plans.
"We work with our kids," said Reginald Cureton. That means reading books with them, working on phonics and vocabulary, a computer program to teach them Spanish, trips to the Detroit Zoo, growing a garden and leaving motivation tips on the refrigerator.
"We want to do things with and for our kids that we didn't have," Jeanine Cureton said.
The Cureton family is well aware of the damage lead causes.
Mom Jeanine Cureton, now 26, was 2 1/2 when she was diagnosed with lead poisoning so severe she needed chelation, injections of chemicals that draw lead from the body. Her lead level was 87 micrograms.
"They told my mom not to expect much from me as far as learning ability," she said. "But I had a praying mom who worked with me."
Cureton didn't finish high school, reads at a grade-school level and struggles with memory problems, but she hopes to finish her education and dreams of being a nurse.
When their son Reggie was diagnosed as a toddler with lead poisoning, she and her husband, Reginald, thought they were doing all the right things, including frequently mopping floors and window sills to keep lead dust down.
But their second son, Maurice, now 7, also had high lead levels. The culprit was lead dust in the home's carpet, an assessment found.
That was two houses ago.
The foreclosed house they bought in March has lead, too, tests show. The family hopes to remediate it with the help of ClearCorps, a nonprofit program that tests homes and helps families get rid of lead by stripping, sanding and repainting walls and trim.
In the meantime, the parents say they do everything they can to keep their youngest children from getting lead poisoning, and they work to stimulate the brains of the two oldest.
They also moved the older boys out of DPS -- where Reggie had been having difficulties -- to the private Detroit Merit Academy, where students get fruit and veggie snacks, journals to log how much they read at home and specialized learning plans.
"We work with our kids," said Reginald Cureton. That means reading books with them, working on phonics and vocabulary, a computer program to teach them Spanish, trips to the Detroit Zoo, growing a garden and leaving motivation tips on the refrigerator.
"We want to do things with and for our kids that we didn't have," Jeanine Cureton said.
'Gives me hope'
Experts say the Curetons are on the right track in working to minimize lead's damage.
Tomas Guilarte, chairman of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, led a 2003 study, which found that a stimulating environment could improve the learning in lead-poisoned rats. Experts are excited by the research, which has not yet been done on humans.
"That study gives me hope," said researcher Miranda of Duke.
Miranda led a 2009 study in North Carolina that found lead exposure helps explain the achievement gap between African-American and white students in reading tests.
Similar studies have produced similar results in Chicago, Massachusetts and Connecticut, Miranda said.
Kids need intervention at an early age to help them overcome some of the effects of lead poisoning, several experts said.
WSU's Chiodo and Teresa Holtrop, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Michigan, said they hope to get a grant this year for a computer program called CogMed. Studies have shown that working with the program 30 minutes a day for five weeks can improve children's memories, which in turn improves learning.
The Curetons are upbeat about the prospects for Reggie and Maurice. Lately, the kids have been doing origami projects, folding paper into complex figures and shapes.
"Our kids are very persistent and don't give up," said Reginald Cureton. "Lead is still affecting them, but not to the point they can't move forward."
Experts say the Curetons are on the right track in working to minimize lead's damage.
Tomas Guilarte, chairman of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, led a 2003 study, which found that a stimulating environment could improve the learning in lead-poisoned rats. Experts are excited by the research, which has not yet been done on humans.
"That study gives me hope," said researcher Miranda of Duke.
Miranda led a 2009 study in North Carolina that found lead exposure helps explain the achievement gap between African-American and white students in reading tests.
Similar studies have produced similar results in Chicago, Massachusetts and Connecticut, Miranda said.
Kids need intervention at an early age to help them overcome some of the effects of lead poisoning, several experts said.
WSU's Chiodo and Teresa Holtrop, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Michigan, said they hope to get a grant this year for a computer program called CogMed. Studies have shown that working with the program 30 minutes a day for five weeks can improve children's memories, which in turn improves learning.
The Curetons are upbeat about the prospects for Reggie and Maurice. Lately, the kids have been doing origami projects, folding paper into complex figures and shapes.
"Our kids are very persistent and don't give up," said Reginald Cureton. "Lead is still affecting them, but not to the point they can't move forward."
12 May 2010
Bobb's Academic Plans get Green Light
The Detroit News
State appeals court lifts injunction; DPS board vows to continue fight
Lansing -- Robert Bobb is prepared to move "rapidly" with his academic and closure plans for Detroit Public Schools after winning an appeals court ruling Thursday, but the school board vowed to ask the state Supreme Court to stop him.
"We are going to try to reverse the ruling and, more than that, reverse what Bobb is trying to do to the city of Detroit," said George Washington, an attorney for the 11-member school board after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled just hours after hearing oral arguments from both sides.
The board believes Bobb, the state-appointed emergency financial manager of the district, has no authority to proceed with academic plans and that a Wayne Circuit Court injunction issued last month was needed to protect the district's 85,000 students from undue harm.
But the three-judge appeals court ruled the board "failed to make a showing that (Bobb's) actions would result in harm that would be irreparable."
"It's unfortunate that we've had to delay valuable programs for DPS students and halt others in the interim," DPS spokesman Steve Wasko said after the ruling. "We can now move forward with implementing our plans rapidly at the same time that we look forward to a thorough discussion of these in court."
The decision doesn't end the legal power struggle between Bobb and the board. The board sued Bobb in August, alleging he is overstepping his authority by making academic decisions and for failing to consult with them on financial decisions, as required by law. The case is ongoing in circuit court where Judge Wendy Baxter issued the preliminary injunction April 16 to bar Bobb from proceeding with his $540 million academic plan, among other things. A hearing is scheduled for May 21. The appeals court overturned the injunction Thursday.
"It doesn't diminish the merits of our case and our ability to prevail ultimately against the emergency financial manager's actions," board vice president Anthony Adams said.
Big issues hang in the balance: closing more than 40 schools by June, developing a budget by June 30 and registering thousands of students for summer school.
Bobb "continues to be willing to meet with the board moving forward with programs beneficial for students, as he or his team has done on at least 27 occasions during the last 14 months," Wasko said, providing a timeline of meetings Bobb and his staff had with individuals from the board. However, the board contends consultation only counts when Bobb meets with the full board.
The closings plan, which officials say will save the district $31 million, will also proceed but be modified "based on extensive community input through dozens of parent and school meetings," Wasko added.
The district's deficit has ballooned to $317 million under Bobb, who is in his second year on the job. He was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Earlier Thursday, both sides had 30 minutes to argue their case before Judges Alton T. Davis, William C. Whitbeck and Donald S. Owens.
The board was represented by attorney Shanta Driver, who gave an emotional oral argument, at one point nearing tears, urging the court to follow the law -- which, she said, is not designed to strip away the academic powers of the school board.
Are you "prepared to declare that Detroit is incompetent to make its own decisions about education ... and simply give that right over to the financial manager?"
School board supporters, who had traveled by bus to Lansing, packed the courtroom.
"It hurts me so much," said parent To'I Coleman as she learned of the ruling on the bus ride home. She's worried now about Bobb "running rampant" with school closings and layoffs of teachers and principals. "He's demolishing the public school system and our children are going to pay the price for all of this."
Raymond Howd, who represented Bobb from Attorney General Mike Cox's office, argued it "is inevitable that some of ... Bobb's financial decisions may overlap into the areas of academics, curriculum and educational policies -- he is, after all, in charge of the finances of a public school district, whose core business is academics."
The district faces losing $50 million in federal funds if Bobb is not able to proceed with the academic plans approved by the state Department of Education, Howd said.
Later, Cox praised the appeals court decision. "The ruling is a huge victory for the children of Detroit, and now we can get Mr. Bobb back to work," he said in a statement.
During the hearing, Davis made a comment that foreshadowed the legal power battle over the school system.
"I have a feeling litigation is in the future no matter what we do," he said.
"We are going to try to reverse the ruling and, more than that, reverse what Bobb is trying to do to the city of Detroit," said George Washington, an attorney for the 11-member school board after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled just hours after hearing oral arguments from both sides.
The board believes Bobb, the state-appointed emergency financial manager of the district, has no authority to proceed with academic plans and that a Wayne Circuit Court injunction issued last month was needed to protect the district's 85,000 students from undue harm.
But the three-judge appeals court ruled the board "failed to make a showing that (Bobb's) actions would result in harm that would be irreparable."
"It's unfortunate that we've had to delay valuable programs for DPS students and halt others in the interim," DPS spokesman Steve Wasko said after the ruling. "We can now move forward with implementing our plans rapidly at the same time that we look forward to a thorough discussion of these in court."
The decision doesn't end the legal power struggle between Bobb and the board. The board sued Bobb in August, alleging he is overstepping his authority by making academic decisions and for failing to consult with them on financial decisions, as required by law. The case is ongoing in circuit court where Judge Wendy Baxter issued the preliminary injunction April 16 to bar Bobb from proceeding with his $540 million academic plan, among other things. A hearing is scheduled for May 21. The appeals court overturned the injunction Thursday.
"It doesn't diminish the merits of our case and our ability to prevail ultimately against the emergency financial manager's actions," board vice president Anthony Adams said.
Big issues hang in the balance: closing more than 40 schools by June, developing a budget by June 30 and registering thousands of students for summer school.
Bobb "continues to be willing to meet with the board moving forward with programs beneficial for students, as he or his team has done on at least 27 occasions during the last 14 months," Wasko said, providing a timeline of meetings Bobb and his staff had with individuals from the board. However, the board contends consultation only counts when Bobb meets with the full board.
The closings plan, which officials say will save the district $31 million, will also proceed but be modified "based on extensive community input through dozens of parent and school meetings," Wasko added.
The district's deficit has ballooned to $317 million under Bobb, who is in his second year on the job. He was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Earlier Thursday, both sides had 30 minutes to argue their case before Judges Alton T. Davis, William C. Whitbeck and Donald S. Owens.
The board was represented by attorney Shanta Driver, who gave an emotional oral argument, at one point nearing tears, urging the court to follow the law -- which, she said, is not designed to strip away the academic powers of the school board.
Are you "prepared to declare that Detroit is incompetent to make its own decisions about education ... and simply give that right over to the financial manager?"
School board supporters, who had traveled by bus to Lansing, packed the courtroom.
"It hurts me so much," said parent To'I Coleman as she learned of the ruling on the bus ride home. She's worried now about Bobb "running rampant" with school closings and layoffs of teachers and principals. "He's demolishing the public school system and our children are going to pay the price for all of this."
Raymond Howd, who represented Bobb from Attorney General Mike Cox's office, argued it "is inevitable that some of ... Bobb's financial decisions may overlap into the areas of academics, curriculum and educational policies -- he is, after all, in charge of the finances of a public school district, whose core business is academics."
The district faces losing $50 million in federal funds if Bobb is not able to proceed with the academic plans approved by the state Department of Education, Howd said.
Later, Cox praised the appeals court decision. "The ruling is a huge victory for the children of Detroit, and now we can get Mr. Bobb back to work," he said in a statement.
During the hearing, Davis made a comment that foreshadowed the legal power battle over the school system.
"I have a feeling litigation is in the future no matter what we do," he said.
02 May 2010
Bobb Aims to bring Teach for America to Detroit
The Detroit Free Press
Robert Bobb, emergency financial manager of Detroit Public Schools, delivers the commencement address to the graduates of the School of Education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor today. (WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press)
Speaking at the University of Michigan this evening, Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb announced that he intends to bring the well-known program Teach for America back to the city in the fall.
Bobb, the state appointee who oversees the DPS budget, was the graduation speaker for the School of Education at U-M.
U-M leads the nation in the number of graduates who join TFA -- which aims to end education inequality by placing graduates as teachers in impoverished schools, according to U-M President Mary Sue Coleman.
In recent years, U-M graduates have left Ann Arbor and gone to cities across the nation, but not to nearby Detroit, after budget cuts and teacher layoffs pushed the program out of DPS several years ago.
“I look forward to signing a contract next week with Teach for America,” Bobb said.
Bobb’s announcement about bringing new teachers to DPS comes weeks after about 2,000 DPS teachers were sent layoff notices because the district faces a deficit over $300 million and declining enrollment.
Keith Johnson, Detroit Federation of Teachers president, said Bobb’s announcement was premature.
“No TFA is coming into DPS when I’ve got teachers facing layoff,” he said. “We have to discuss a whole laundry list of things before it can even be considered for implementation.”
Bobb, a Louisiana native, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Grambling State University, a master’s degree in business from Western Michigan University and completed a certificate program from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
He urged the U-M graduates to bring their passion to DPS.
“It’s all about the children and about action,” he said.
Graduate Jessica Thudium, 26, of Sterling Heights said TFA could bring quality, energetic teachers to DPS and attract young professionals to the city.
“You always have to go where the opportunity is,” said Thudium, who earned a master’s degree today after having been laid off a teaching job in Troy schools. “Hopefully this will be an opportunity to bolster education and the city in general.”
Bobb, the state appointee who oversees the DPS budget, was the graduation speaker for the School of Education at U-M.
U-M leads the nation in the number of graduates who join TFA -- which aims to end education inequality by placing graduates as teachers in impoverished schools, according to U-M President Mary Sue Coleman.
In recent years, U-M graduates have left Ann Arbor and gone to cities across the nation, but not to nearby Detroit, after budget cuts and teacher layoffs pushed the program out of DPS several years ago.
“I look forward to signing a contract next week with Teach for America,” Bobb said.
Bobb’s announcement about bringing new teachers to DPS comes weeks after about 2,000 DPS teachers were sent layoff notices because the district faces a deficit over $300 million and declining enrollment.
Keith Johnson, Detroit Federation of Teachers president, said Bobb’s announcement was premature.
“No TFA is coming into DPS when I’ve got teachers facing layoff,” he said. “We have to discuss a whole laundry list of things before it can even be considered for implementation.”
Bobb, a Louisiana native, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Grambling State University, a master’s degree in business from Western Michigan University and completed a certificate program from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
He urged the U-M graduates to bring their passion to DPS.
“It’s all about the children and about action,” he said.
Graduate Jessica Thudium, 26, of Sterling Heights said TFA could bring quality, energetic teachers to DPS and attract young professionals to the city.
“You always have to go where the opportunity is,” said Thudium, who earned a master’s degree today after having been laid off a teaching job in Troy schools. “Hopefully this will be an opportunity to bolster education and the city in general.”
09 April 2009
Detroit Public Schools Plan Closings, Layoffs, Upgrades
Story from the Detroit News
Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager on Wednesday said he plans to send layoff notices to 600 teachers and close Chadsey High School, Guyton Elementary and 21 other schools in the fall because of plummeting enrollment and a mounting deficit.
Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager on Wednesday said he plans to send layoff notices to 600 teachers and close Chadsey High School, Guyton Elementary and 21 other schools in the fall because of plummeting enrollment and a mounting deficit.
Robert Bobb, the manager, also announced plans to plow more than $200 million into existing buildings by enhancing security and making structural and other improvements.
Bobb said the closings and layoffs are necessary to stave off a $306 million deficit, but parents are already distraught over the changes, which will force the transfer of 7,500 students.
"My biggest problem is that if you close schools that kids attend, send them to a place that is better," said Rudy Jones, who has two daughters at Courtis Elementary, which is slated for closure.
The plan calls for the girls to be transferred to nearby Noble Elementary, which Jones said is structurally worse and lacks computer labs and other academic necessities. "I have no emotional ties to Courtis, but brick for brick, it's a better, safer environment."
He said he won't send his girls to Noble.
To determine which schools would close, Bobb and his team considered neighborhood redevelopment plans, population patterns, schools' student achievement levels and the condition of school buildings.
According to the district, for example, Noble is rated higher in academics using federal guidelines and Courtis' building would require $3.7 million in structural improvements, compared to $2.8 million at Noble. Nine of the schools on the closure list are in various stages of failure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), ranging from alert to Phase 8, and some schools were at less than half their capacity.
Bobb said some of the 600 teachers who receive layoff notices -- who make up about 11.3 percent of the total -- may be recalled, but it's unknown how many.
Keith Johnson, President of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said he knew of the layoff notices and understands some layoffs are necessary because of declining enrollment. He said he is concerned for any teacher who loses a job, but he believes many layoffs will be rescinded or teachers recalled after retirements and resignations are factored in.
"It may not be as bad as it seems," he said.
The closings will save $8.8 million annually beginning in the second year, Bobb said, though he acknowledged his plan requires a delicate balancing act between necessary cuts and preventing thousands more parents and students from fleeing the district. This concern is why the plan includes enhancements to schools that receive students from closed buildings, as well as others, he said.
"We are asking parents to stay with us and give us an opportunity," Bobb said. "Don't abandon the system ... We're going to stand up and fight for you, and if you're not getting a quality education in your schools, if the principals aren't standing up, if the teachers aren't standing up, and giving your children the type of education they need and deserve, we'll take whatever action we have to take."
Bobb said he is notifying the community and working with city planners to ensure the shuttered schools won't add blight to neighborhoods already impacted by dozens of shuttered Detroit schools dotting the landscape. He said he expects to make a final decision on closures by May 8.
But parents say the district also must take into account how the closures will impact their children.
"If you treat the parents poorly, we have an option," said parent Chris White. Parents can simply leave the district, he said.
Plan includes upgrades
Bobb plans to spend $25 million to enhance security at several schools, by replacing doors, adding security cameras and creating a new video monitoring system for the district's Department of Public Safety.
Parents have been crying out for enhanced security, and the school system has been plagued by violent intruders. Just last week, a school social worker tackled a boy who allegedly entered a school with a sawed-off shotgun.
At Central High School earlier this school year, several intruders engaged in a gun fight in the school halls. Officials have long said securing aging structures with dozens of doors is nearly impossible.
Bobb is asking the state to use federal stimulus funding for the majority of the building projects, which include other infrastructure improvements like lighting, roofs and new boilers.
Another $20 million from a 1994 bond issue will be used to repair and renovate schools that will be receiving new students, with an additional $6 million from allocated, unspent funds to improve several schools where students transferred as part of the last closure plan where 33 schools were shuttered.
He said financing options are being reviewed for three new K-12 educational complexes to replace Chadsey and Finney high schools and remodel or replace Mumford High.
Building review planned
Bobb also will review which shuttered buildings -- including 56 already vacant structures -- would be targeted for demolition, redevelopment or sale to charter schools. He acknowledged that closings must be strategic to avoid a greater loss of students. The district, which has about 96,000 students, has been losing about 10,000 students a year most years since 2001. But the community in the past has staged protests and railed against closures, which some say are contributing to the dismantling of the school system.
Former superintendent Connie Calloway this school year opted not to close schools after the district found the 33 school closings the previous year cost the system millions of dollars. An internal report compiled by a committee of academic and non-academic "stakeholders" and authored by Calloway said the district lost $11.3 million because students left the district following the closures.
Michelle Dixon, whose daughter, Mya, is a fourth grader at Guyton Elementary, which is slated for closure, said she plans to enroll her in a charter school, rather than a public school farther away. The school has been on the chopping block before.
"It's sad. That school is a neighborhood school, so it's very convenient for a lot of kids to walk back and forth," she said. "Closing the schools where people are working and the community is helping out -- that's not the solution."
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
