Nancy Flanagan tells the story of what happened to Detroit. Once it was a vibrant city with a thriving automobile industry, once its schools were the envy of urban education, now it is a wasteland, a symbol of urban decline. Corporate-style reformers like to blame the low test scores and dysfunction of the schools on the teachers. They say, if only they could get the right evaluation system. If only they could bust the union. If only they could abolish tenure.
But Flanagan says that Detroit has some of the finest teachers she has ever known.
Another way to look at the problems of Detroit:
” There are 50,000 homeless people in the city. There are 30,000 houses with no running water, 10,000 occupied homes with no power, and 40,000 homes in foreclosure. One-third of the land in the city is empty, vacant–and there’s no supermarket in the city limits, so 90% of purchased “food” comes from 7-11s, gas stations and fast food outlets. Burned-out houses are everywhere, and there are entire neighborhoods where unemployment is universal.”
Could these conditions have any bearing on what happens in the schools?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
No excuses, Diane. If those were real teachers, they’d build those cars, sleep under their desks and bring packages of twinkies and those greasy carousel dogs in from the 7-11 the kids to eat. That would get the factory lines rolling, keep the kids fed, and really minimize the money teachers needed to be paid while maximizing what we all get out of them for their cushy jobs. Actually, let them get in to work one day soon, and fence them all in to about an eight square block area, and begin the “school town” project. No one comes in, and military-bound youth come out. Cheap on the cost end, efficient on the product end.
Dear Diane,
I’m not sure how to contact your directly with my story and request, so I’ll post here and hope you’ll share this more broadly, as you have been so kind to do with other posts I’ve made on your ‘blog. I have written here and in the press in support of public schools in the face of an ALEC-designed onslaught on our public schools. Sadly, as I’ll explain below, I’m beginning to wonder if my efforts haven’t been misplaced. I’m also concerned that this story illustrates the disintegration of public support for school boards, which may in the long run be far more effective at delivering ALEC’s agenda than any legislative hanky-panky.
I serve on the school board of a relatively poor district of a relatively poor state. Like many other school boards across the country, we have been confronted with a mid-year budget crisis arising from the usual factors: (1) a sudden and unforeseen decrease in state and federal funding that had been promised to our district; (2) unexpectedly higher costs for fuel, electricity, and staffing; and (3) some errors in the budget prepared by our prior superintendent. Although not small, relatively speaking factor (3) is not the major contributor to our crisis; and the combined costs of (2) and (3) could have be covered by simple cost-cutting and spending freeze measures. However, the sudden loss of promised state funding (1) has led us to furloughs and layoffs as well as the early termination of some programs. While this is not what anyone wanted, I am satisfied that this is the least disruptive option for all students in our district.
On top of this, we are also negotiating a new contract with the teachers union, which, to the surprise of the board, has been very contentious. Most of the surrounding districts negotiated very spare contracts, and the board felt that we offered the teachers a relatively good deal. Apparently, we were wrong and the discussions have become bogged down.
Needless to say, the board members were heartbroken at these developments and the need to take such drastic measures to correct our budget deficit. We understood that the public would be upset too, but the outpouring of blind anger, insult, hysteria, and personal attacks directed at the board and its members has been astonishing. Members of the public raged that any change to their child’s program was a life-scarring betrayal. Teachers raged that “those responsible” should be fired, as if firing someone will magically fix all problems, and complained they always bear the burden even while other unions have already agreed to cuts and furloughs while the teachers themselves have delayed any vote on furlough days that could avoid layoffs. No one seemed to care that the program changes were limited to the end of the year when all activity slows down, or that the affected students would still have access to much of their programs. Several people claimed that their business experience would demand those “at fault” be fired and that the board is simply incompetent for not following business practices, claiming that they could solve all our problems with “discipline and accounting”. Included in the bilious outpouring was what can only be called a demagogic speech by the head of the union negotiating committee directed at the board, with fantastical insinuations of corruption. Many e-mails were have been the same vein.
Through all of this our superintendent was silent and counseled patience.
After the last speech from the audience, one board member, a retiree with decades of teaching experience, was so outraged by the behavior of the participants–especially the union rep.–that he abandoned his usually quiet demeanor to set the record straight. That member followed another who pointed out how little the public participates in the budget approval process both locally and in state politics, leading to tight budget votes and tight budgets that have little money set aside for unexpected outlays; and yet the same non-participants rage at the board when cuts are made. Another member, who was personally attacked, rebutted an attacker and then announced they will not seek reë:lection. Still another member made the same announcement privately. One or two more on the fence. My partner, a teacher, has asked that I not run again.
My point isn’t to claim that the board didn’t make any errors or could not have found other means to fix our problem. I’m sure we would make some different decision with the benefit of hindsight, and I’m sure that given more time we might be able to find other ways to mitigate some cuts. I’m happy to listen to constructive criticism and insights as part of civil discussion in which we all understand we want the same goal–a sound education for our children at a price we can afford.
What I reject is the public’s attitude that it’s acceptable to belittle and berate their very neighbors who volunteer upwards of 40 hours a month to serve on the school board. I reject the childishness of parents who refuse to participate in board meetings or public votes on the school budget, or vote for “low tax” candidates in state and federal elections, and then rage at the school board when their kid’s favorite program is cut. I have no respect for members of the public who show up a board meetings and arrogantly sneer at the board, claiming they could fix all of our problems with the busniess acumen only to find on challenge how ignorant they are of the laws and regulations and unfunded mandates that bind the schools. I have nothing but contempt for union leaders who use board meetings to grandstand while vilifying the very people trying to support the teachers. And I’m deeply disappointed in a superintendent who won’t stand up for a supportive bord.
The end, I fear will be the death of a school board that fights for public schools and teachers, and the rise of a board that will usher in the ALEC agenda and then close the lights and lock the door on local control. When the public’s childish rages, narcissistic scolding and lecturing, and the unions machinations, drive good members off the board, the way is open for the anti-taxing, anti-spending, and pro-ALEC conservatives, as well as the theocratic conservatives, to take over the board. We already have been approached by groups who claim they will pressure us to cut our budget by 15% next year; what happens when board seats start to open?
Some have told me to let this event roll off me like water off a duck’s back. Others have pointed out that many in the audience quietly voice support for the board and cringe at the antics of the pubic and union rep. Still others have counseled that we have to let people express their anger and not take it personally. I do appreciate all of this counsel, and I have thanked all those who have come to me privately with support. But I view these events as part of a great shift in American culture that began after the Second World War, chronicled by authors such as David Riesman, Vance Packard, Richard Sennett, Christopher Lasch, and Chris Hedges, in which the personal qualities that are key to a civil society (such as decorum in pubic speaking, patience, temperance in expression) have been corroded by a consumerist culture that values acting on impulse and venerating selfishness. But this only intellectualizes the problem. People may have a right to rage at me, but I also have a right to walk away. People can kibitz and undermine elected officials in public meetings, but those elected officials can resign or not seek reëlection. In the end will be left only those who will ignore the public and institute their own agenda, or no one will show up and the system will die.
Either way, public schools will die at the hands of the public if we keep this up.
I went to grad school in Detroit in the mid-nineties, and began teaching there (as a university adjunct). I remember having to travel up to 8 Mile Road (the demarcation line) at least, just to find a supermarket. It was a hard place back then, and it is awful to see the continued decay.
It trivializes the problems of a city like Detroit (or Washington, DC) to think that teachers could be ANY appreciable part of the problem. It just proves the callous attitude of those trying to take hold of the educational reins. With public education, teachers and schools are a huge budget outlay with little return to the politicians. With corporate schools, the political return on education dollars is HUGE!
It’s greed. It always has been. Pure, unadulterated greed.
Chris Hedges describes Detroit as one of the growing number of “sacrifice zones” that result from the lack of public spending on public needs and the rise of extractive capitalism that teaches people to simply take from a region until that region is exhausted and then move on.
According to the Census Bureau, per-pupil spending in Detroit for 2009-2010 was $12,801. (In Flint, it was $13,704.) That’s higher than the national average, higher than the state average, and higher than in at least some of the northern suburban districts. Just something to consider.
Anything that is for children passes in Detroit elections, especially tax hikes for education.
You omit the corruption in both the School Board and in the city’s administration.
What do you think is happening in the Detroit charters now? Does it bother you that no one in the news reports to you the corruption in the charters? It is unacceptable and you don’t even know it exists. Shouldn’t the public know when they are being taken?
Ihave written here and in the press in support of public schools in the face of an ALEC-designed onslaught on our public schools. Sadly, as I’ll explain below, I’m beginning to wonder if my efforts haven’t been misplaced. I’m also concerned that this story illustrates the disintegration of public support for school boards, which may in the long run be far more effective at delivering ALEC’s agenda than any legislative hanky-panky.
I serve on the school board of a relatively poor district of a relatively poor state. Like many other school boards across the country, we have been confronted with a mid-year budget crisis arising from the usual factors: (1) a sudden and unforeseen decrease in state and federal funding that had been promised to our district; (2) unexpectedly higher costs for fuel, electricity, and staffing; and (3) some errors in the budget prepared by our prior superintendent. Although not small, relatively speaking factor (3) is not the major contributor to our crisis; and the combined costs of (2) and (3) could have be covered by simple cost-cutting and spending freeze measures. However, the sudden loss of promised state funding (1) has led us to furloughs and layoffs as well as the early termination of some programs. While this is not what anyone wanted, I am satisfied that this is the least disruptive option for all students in our district.
On top of this, we are also negotiating a new contract with the teachers union, which, to the surprise of the board, has been very contentious. Most of the surrounding districts negotiated very spare contracts, and the board felt that we offered the teachers a relatively good deal. Apparently, we were wrong and the discussions have become bogged down.
Needless to say, the board members were heartbroken at these developments and the need to take such drastic measures to correct our budget deficit. We understood that the public would be upset too, but the outpouring of blind anger, insult, hysteria, and personal attacks directed at the board and its members has been astonishing. Members of the public raged that any change to their child’s program was a life-scarring betrayal. Teachers raged that “those responsible” should be fired, as if firing someone will magically fix all problems, and complained they always bear the burden even while other unions have already agreed to cuts and furloughs while the teachers themselves have delayed any vote on furlough days that could avoid layoffs. No one seemed to care that the program changes were limited to the end of the year when all activity slows down, or that the affected students would still have access to much of their programs. Several people claimed that their business experience would demand those “at fault” be fired and that the board is simply incompetent for not following business practices, claiming that they could solve all our problems with “discipline and accounting”. Included in the bilious outpouring was what can only be called a demagogic speech by the head of the union negotiating committee directed at the board, with fantastical insinuations of corruption. Many e-mails were have been the same vein.
Through all of this our superintendent was silent and counseled patience.
After the last speech from the audience, one board member, a retiree with decades of teaching experience, was so outraged by the behavior of the participants–especially the union rep.–that he abandoned his usually quiet demeanor to set the record straight. That member followed another who pointed out how little the public participates in the budget approval process both locally and in state politics, leading to tight budget votes and tight budgets that have little money set aside for unexpected outlays; and yet the same non-participants rage at the board when cuts are made. Another member, who was personally attacked, rebutted an attacker and then announced they will not seek reë:lection. Still another member made the same announcement privately. One or two more on the fence. My partner, a teacher, has asked that I not run again.
My point isn’t to claim that the board didn’t make any errors or could not have found other means to fix our problem. I’m sure we would make some different decision with the benefit of hindsight, and I’m sure that given more time we might be able to find other ways to mitigate some cuts. I’m happy to listen to constructive criticism and insights as part of civil discussion in which we all understand we want the same goal–a sound education for our children at a price we can afford.
What I reject is the public’s attitude that it’s acceptable to belittle and berate their very neighbors who volunteer upwards of 40 hours a month to serve on the school board. I reject the childishness of parents who refuse to participate in board meetings or public votes on the school budget, or vote for “low tax” candidates in state and federal elections, and then rage at the school board when their kid’s favorite program is cut. I have no respect for members of the public who show up a board meetings and arrogantly sneer at the board, claiming they could fix all of our problems with the busniess acumen only to find on challenge how ignorant they are of the laws and regulations and unfunded mandates that bind the schools. I have nothing but contempt for union leaders who use board meetings to grandstand while vilifying the very people trying to support the teachers. And I’m deeply disappointed in a superintendent who won’t stand up for a supportive bord.
The end, I fear will be the death of a school board that fights for public schools and teachers, and the rise of a board that will usher in the ALEC agenda and then close the lights and lock the door on local control. When the public’s childish rages, narcissistic scolding and lecturing, and the unions machinations, drive good members off the board, the way is open for the anti-taxing, anti-spending, and pro-ALEC conservatives, as well as the theocratic conservatives, to take over the board. We already have been approached by groups who claim they will pressure us to cut our budget by 15% next year; what happens when board seats start to open?
Some have told me to let this event roll off me like water off a duck’s back. Others have pointed out that many in the audience quietly voice support for the board and cringe at the antics of the pubic and union rep. Still others have counseled that we have to let people express their anger and not take it personally. I do appreciate all of this counsel, and I have thanked all those who have come to me privately with support. But I view these events as part of a great shift in American culture that began after the Second World War, chronicled by authors such as David Riesman, Vance Packard, Richard Sennett, Christopher Lasch, and Chris Hedges, in which the personal qualities that are key to a civil society (such as decorum in pubic speaking, patience, temperance in expression) have been corroded by a consumerist culture that values acting on impulse and venerating selfishness. But this only intellectualizes the problem. People may have a right to rage at me, but I also have a right to walk away. People can kibitz and undermine elected officials in public meetings, but those elected officials can resign or not seek reëlection. In the end will be left only those who will ignore the public and institute their own agenda, or no one will show up and the system will die.
Either way, public schools will die at the hands of the public if we keep this up.
“When the public’s childish rages, narcissistic scolding and lecturing, and the unions machinations, drive good members off the board, the way is open for the anti-taxing, anti-spending, and pro-ALEC conservatives, as well as the theocratic conservatives, to take over the board. We already have been approached by groups who claim they will pressure us to cut our budget by 15% next year; what happens when board seats start to open?”
The cynic in me whispers that perhaps sowing such dissent is an effective FUD strategy fomented by the ALEC crowd.
Possibly, but I think this more about the public than any ALEC-inspired plan.
It is yet another disaster which they are not letting of to waste.
Thank you for your voluntary service. It is truly death by 1000 cuts. Our board members are left to deal with the financial restrictions placed on us by the ALEC reforms. I can’t help but wonder along with you what the eventual end will be from the (starve the beast) campaign of the “reform movement”. It won’t be stopped without anger from the public, but those creating this problem are shielded from the public’s anger which gets misdirected at the local board. Board members have to live in the world of balanced budgets that is so foreign to our government. I sometimes wonder if we will cut ourselves out of existence when we combine unfunded mandate burdens like RTTT with budget cuts, or is that ALECs plan? I hope what you are experiencing is just the first misguided steps of a movement that will change things. Can you provide these people with the proper avenues to democratic intervention? Letter writing campaigns and grassroots education support organizations are just a couple ways to fight for more funding. Good luck and thanks again for your selflessness.
I can see a time in the very near future where schools and their locally elected BOEs come together to become local, non-profit PACs. Policy makers are working in a very open way against the best interests of schools, and BOE members shouldn’t have to pretend that they are subject to some out of reach cloud people raining lightning bolts from above. Bring in parents and lay out those in office, or those running, along with their intentions regarding issues that effect the community.
I’m glad you wrote. It really does take a thick skin to listen to the abuse. I don’t have any easy answers for you. You have to decide for yourself when enough is enough, but keep your cool and come out with your self respect intact. Listen to your partner seriously if your health, mental or physical, is in jeopardy.
It is sad but this shows how the lack of support for education in this country has left us all fighting for scraps. Our leaders give lip service to wanting to improve education but in truth don’t care. You all need to unite together to fight the problem. Why don’t you all organize a trip to your legislature and raise heck. Get the other districts around you involved too.
Sorry to post off-topic, but I feel strongly about this and wanted to find some way to share with everyone.
I am the author of the piece Diane references here–and I’m glad you wrote. I’m totally panicked at the thought of losing democratically elected BOEs, even though they’ve always been fraught with misunderstandings, bullying and grandstanding. Returning to Detroit–the elected BOE in Detroit has been disenfranchised by the Governor, who appointed an “emergency manager” to run the district. The EM, in turn has negated negotiated agreements.
If you think what’s happened in your district is chaotic and acrimonious, you should see what happens when nobody gets a say, and the pieces of a once-fine public system get sold off to the highest bidder.
So true and pathetic.
We all must realize that we are in this mess together. My only complaint with my board is the constant rubber stamping of “reform” measures our superintendent brought with him from Colorado. The board does not listen to what is best for children and schools, they are fully on board with the Corporate raiders. I am sorry for your experience. During these times, as a teacher, I realize that I will have to share the burden in terms of pay reduction and paying more for my medical insurance. I only hope that the board and public will remember these things when we are once again prosperous. It seems that often the loyalty of the teachers is not reciprocated.
Wow! Talk about cutting to the chase. Ms. Flanagen states the issue in my home state in plain, blunt language. What frustrates me as a fellow educator and local leader of my MEA association, is how blindly all of us from administrators on down follow whatever the state mandates. Yes, it seems to be a hopeless endeavor to speak out and say No, but just think if Rosa Parks, or Ghandi had simply shrugged and said what can I do? I’m only one person! Thanks to everyone who dares to speak out on behalf of kids and educators everywhere.
In reply to moosensquirrels; I understand your frustration and fear of what will happen to our public schools if the most critical stakeholders continue to stay on the sidelines. I have heard the loud angry rants from parents and local citizens when their ox is gored. I would encourage you to continue the good fight against all odds. The battle is a just one. We are fighting for the future of our children. I accept your feelings of anger and betrayal as being a school board member is a thankless position. However, please do not feel the teachers and their union are against you personally. I have been in the negotiations. I have dealt with good school board members and not so good ones. I have heard from board members who wanted teachers to give up more of their hard earned benefits and wages to balance the budget. The superintendent stood up for us by saying they have given enough already.
My point is you may be frustrated, angry, and unappreciated. That I will not argue. What you must remember is the fight is not over. You and I have the same outcome in mind…a strong and well supported public education for all children. Do not give up! We must continue be critical of the insane policies our politicians are trying to cram down our throats in the name of “reform”.
I say it so often I wonder when I will be asked to say it in Russian, Hebrew, French, Swahili, ASL or a language that those I am speaking to do not recognize. I very much appreciate Nancy’s comments although I would beg to differ and wordsmith just a bit. Detroit has not “declined” it has “decayed.” So I will repeat until I am put on mute. Detroit and surrounding cities died in the Riots of 1967. The city, the infrastructure, the commerce, the schools and the morale and will of those left in this war-torn apocalypse. No emergency manager of the city or the schools will be the savior and especially with Rick-Engler-Snyder sitting in the Governor’s seat. No governor on either side of the political aisle has felt responsible for rebuilding Detroit and surrounding cities. I think about the more than forty million students that have lost their educational lives in Detroit over the past 46 years. It should be staggering and yet the silence among Michiganders is palpable. I don’t know what it will take for We the People of Michigan to understand that a viable Michigan is not possible without a viable Detroit. And that not one child born in this shattered shell of a city has asked to be born to the desolute hopelessnes, poverty, un-education and unemployability. As for the schools, Superintendent Flanagan has done nothing to improve let alone rebuild this dismantled and devastated school district. The students have no reason to go to school. The teachers have no reason to teach. This madness must stop…but when and how when our governors, legislatures, mayors (Say NO to Duggan…he is the treasurer of the EAA!!) city councils, school boards, state department of education, and citizens are too simpleminded to find the solutions and build the plan. In the movie, Field of Dreams, James Earl Jones says, “build it and they will come.” Will this ever be the case in Detroit and surrounding cities?, I have lost all hope and not for lack of caring and trying.
The suburban Detroit area has great schools. There are high schools in Detroit that are graduating college ready students. They are still part of DPS. It is not all bleak. Look at Renaissance and Cass. They certainly have hope. Inside Detroit itself a lot of what Nancy described is true. The city is in really bad shape. The charter vultures moved in and I seriously think it weakend Detroit and its neighborhoods rather than helped. The decay of Detroit is not the blame of teachers and their unions. That is absurd.
I agree with your main premise — kind of. I think that as time goes on, and the decay Detroit’s gone through spreads outward to the “inner suburbs” and beyond, people will come to see the riots as a bit player in Detroit’s downfall. The riots were the thing everyone pointed to in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s when they talked about high crime and a tax base that was fleeing to the suburbs (or out of state). But it was really the decline of the American auto industry, and in particular the decline of union manufacturing jobs, that doomed Detroit. Detroit could have overcome a lot of its problems if it hadn’t lost its manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
“But it was really the decline of the American auto industry, and in particular the decline of union manufacturing jobs, that doomed Detroit.”
Of course, ironically, it was also the union manufacturing jobs that doomed the American auto industry.
“it was also the union manufacturing jobs that doomed the American auto industry.”
There are many successful industries that are unionized, including all six major Hollywood studios and companies like GE and UPS: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine/while-morning-joe-crew-sa_b_211212.html
Maybe “Detroit could have overcome a lot of its problems” if its executives took smaller cuts, instead of outsourcing jobs to Mexico and non-union workers in other states.
When pundits on Fox, MSNBC, CNN etc. claim unions bring down industries, they usually fail to mention that they belong to unions and work for successful companies themselves.
Very doubtful that the big three could have been globally competitive by a policy of executive officer largesse (as practiced by Jack Welch?). This has been gone over and over for decades, but feel free to crunch the numbers yourself.
I don’t work for Fox.
This was the pay of auto industry executives in 2011, Ford: Alan Mulally $28.9 million, Chrysler: Sergio Marchionne $16.2 million, GM: Dan Akerson $9 million: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/02/sizing-up-automotive-ceo-pay/
Not significant numbers in companies on that scale.
Oh, please. That’s just the CEOs. Other auto execs pulled in a lot as well, and Ford boosted market share three years in a row. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/31/business/la-fi-ford-exec-pay-20120331
Analysts have been covering this issue for decades. High executive pay did not sink Detroit. Super-high executive pay is actually a pretty recent phenomenon. And if you want to investigate the causes of Detroit’s collapse, you need to go back to the 1970s. You won’t find it in 2011 executive pay disclosures.
When in doubt, blame the unions. This would be a great country if it weren’t for the greedy unionized teachers, police and firemen who demand a wage, health insurance and due process rights. These public sector workers are draining us dry.
Socialism for the uber-wealthy1% only….please don’t mess with the “job creators”. They are the makers…the rest of us are takers. God bless our plutocracy.
Really, and don’t forget to blame those unionized workers in the private sector for wanting a livable wage, too. No matter that execs of companies that are “too big to fail” rake in such big bucks after federal bail outs: http://www.aflcio.org/Corporate-Watch/CEO-Pay-and-the-99
It’s worthwhile to discuss how much compensation CEOs should receive. To the extent you’re trying to say they’re overcompensated, I agree. Otherwise I have to refer you to the decades of evidence of the role that disparate labor costs had on the US auto makers’ struggle to compete with Japanese and Korean companies.
Here’s Bernie Sanders’ report, “Meet the Top Wall Street and Corporate Tax Dodgers” (none are from the auto industry, but only 31 people are listed.): http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Tax-Dodge-Report-3.pdf
Thank you.
Yeah, just blame it all on the unions, as if Detroit’s demise had nothing to do with the fact that they continued to churn out gas guzzling behemoths long after it was evident that Americans wanted the choice of smaller sized cars with better gas mileage.
Wow. And I thought Chicago was bad. Poverty and blighted areas have been pretty much contained to the south side and the west side here, with block after block of burnt out buildings eventually demolished, along with all of the highrise projects, leaving vast areas that lay bare for decades. Ultimately, gentrification steps into blighted communities, making way for new yuppie neighborhoods, which have been expanding centrifugally from our downtown area.
The chain grocery stores sometimes go into low income areas here but often don’t last long and ultimately leave. I worked in a lot of schools in those neighborhoods and noticed that the gas stations charge much higher prices there, clearly exploiting the people who can least afford it.
There should be no excuses for the politicians who have let this urban decay continue. Our government needs to tax companies that outsource jobs and hide assets overseas. When 60% of families in poverty are the Working Poor, one of the most important ways of fixing poverty is self-evident, but it’s one that no one in the back pocket of big business billionaires wants to acknowledge it. They need to mandate that profitable corporations pay livable wages.
The government must stop underwriting corporations like Walmart with Food Stamps and other government assistance for their employees, when the six Walton heirs have more wealth than the entire bottom 40% of our country and can clearly afford to pay for their employees’ survival needs themselves.
Charter School Alert: Catholic High School starts feeder charter school. http://www.indy.gov/OEI/Schools/Applicants/2011/Documents/VBP%20Prospectus.pdf
If individual teachers are the reason for successful students they why aren’t the “successful” teachers (mainly in the white middle and upper class schools) shipped over to the poor, non-functioning schools. I mean, if this argument is to hold ground, that teachers are the reason that poor schools are struggling, then let’s just do a massive switch and we can see all those struggling schools with struggling students excell? Michelle Rhee says it is all about “good teachers” then why don’t we take all those “good teachers” and put them to work in the poorest schools in our nation.
Also saw this recent “pro charter” op ed piece in the NYTs
The 7-11s replacing supermarkets is a perfect metaphor for what will happen to public schools if legislatures, boards, and voters endorse the notion that unregulated private enterprise can solve the problems of schooling. The for-profit 7-11 charters will offer bare bones curricula while the full-service suburban schools will provide a wide range of offerings…. Blaming teachers for low performing students is like blaming the 7-11 clerk for bad nutrition in the community.
Thanks, Diane, for excerpting the piece on Detroit. It is Part I of a three-part blog series.
For those especially concerned with what happens when a well-respected public school in Detroit dies and a charter assumes its mission and captures its resources, please see Part II which went up today: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2013/02/first_world_education_problems_in_detroit_part_ii_catherine_ferguson_academy.html
That’s a ruff scene!
Ms Ravitch writes…
“Could these conditions have any bearing on what happens in the schools?”
Could the ‘Culture of Coruption’ over the past 30 years in DPS have any bearing on what happens in the schools? Wonder which political party has been running Detroit and DPS over this time.
Are the reformers to blame for millions of dollars have been stolen from the district and the school board officials are in constant disagreement?
Who is responsible for the fact that In 2010-11, 98.6% of DPS students did not meet college-readiness benchmarks on their composite ACT scores?
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said it best when he said of DSP, “arguably the worst,” “devastatingly bad for far too long” and “a national disgrace”.
I look forward to a 12 part series attacking the DPS emergency financial manager’s politics, family, and school choices for his children.
Are you worried about the corruption that currently exists in Detroit charter schools right now? Would you like to know how much money the charter owners are making off of children? Would it bother you if you knew a family was allowed to run a school and reward itself with vast money? Wouldn’t you like to see a series on your local television highlighting such corruption??? Isn’t it funny how you repeatedly heard about such things at DPS yet don’t hear it about charters when it is alive and well.
Cynthia, you should really read more about the collapse of Detroit’s economy. And go to church, or someplace where you might cultivate a sense of compassion, basic human decency. You will find it difficult to get through life without it.
Are the reformers to blame for millions of dollars have been stolen from the district and the school board officials are in constant disagreement?
Not sure, but now they’re busy scheming about how best to get their hands on the money for themselves…..stealing it for their entrepreneurial eduvultures and political cronies is the goal. Don’t be fooled…the goal is destruction of the profession and the creation of compliant widget makers.
They are definately out to steal from the public. I also think it is ridiculous that this person believes that Detroit’s problems mainly stem from the school board.
So not one of you have an answer to my questions, but you justify the culture of corruption because of the collapse of Detroit’s economy, and Ms. Ratvich questions my compassion. Nice.
I question your compassion for the thousands of families in Detroit living in dire poverty. I also question your knowledge of social science. Test scores reflect family income more than any other factor.
Don’t worry…the charters, cyber schools and TFA will fix it all.
I don’t think it’s true that there are no supermarkets in Detroit.
Retailers Head for Exits in Detroit, “No national grocery chain operates a store here.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124510185111216455.html
A search of grocery stores brings up very different results from a search of grocery store chains in Google Maps for Detroit.
It’s the same with Chicago, where many grocery chains are in the higher income downtown area and north side neighborhoods. Few are in the low income neighborhoods on the south side and the west side.