Educators and lawmakers oppose Detroit school closings
- Feb 17, 2017
- 1 min read
DETROIT — On Monday, Detroit educators and lawmakers said they want the state to work with dwindling public schools in the city to produce better results, instead of shutting them down.
The state identified the public schools that ranked in the bottom 5 percent for 2014, 2015 and 2016 in January. As a result, 24 out of 119 Detroit schools may be closed this summer and possibly 25 more in 2018 if they rank in the bottom for another year.
Members of the Detroit Caucus of the State House of Representatives, some Detroit Public Schools Community District School Board members, Wayne RESA Superintendent Randy Liepa and others assembled at the Brightmoor Community Center to propose solutions.
The school closings were also addressed at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center auditorium during an "Education Town Hall Meeting." City Council President Brenda Jones arranged the meeting, which 150 people attended.
"Michigan should conduct closing impact studies to see how this would affect the students, staff and neighborhood before any closings," State Rep. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) said, suggesting transportation hardships.
The school closings come after Governor Snyder's $617 million bailout package for Detroit's schools that he signed into law in June to save the district from a financial crisis.
"$617 million was just invested in rebooting Detroit Public Schools Community District," said State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (D-Detroit). "Do we need to be fiscally irresponsible with taxpayers? No."
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