School Closures on the Table in Detroit

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Darnell Earley announces strategies to address budget problems.

Denby High School in Detroit (Photo by Andrew Jameson)

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Detroit is not ruling out school closings as a possible budget fix. That’s what Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Darnell Earley said in a meeting this week, according to the Detroit News.

The district is dealing with a $170 million deficit. Earley says they want to avoid teach layoffs, and they are creating a summit of education service providers to consider recommendations that are due to Gov. Rick Snyder on March 31st.

According to the Detroit News, in addition to possible school closings, the summit goals would include agreeing on a moratorium on the creation of new schools before this fall, and considering options for restructuring DPS’s debt, which includes $2.6 billion in long-term obligations.

School closings were not well received in Chicago and Philadelphia. The issue is one of the many factors that are complicating Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s campaign for re-election. This could ring true in Michigan politics too.

The Detroit Federation of Teachers president Steve Conn already has his doubts about the proposed plans.

“It’s the same old mumbo jumbo and political dodging by the governor,” Conn told The Detroit News. “It doesn’t meet a single demand of teachers, students or the residents of Detroit. It doesn’t address class size reduction, the need for books, art, music or gym classes — none of it.”

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Jenn Stanley is a freelance journalist, essayist and independent producer living in Chicago. She has an M.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

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Tags: detroitpublic schools

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