Under a recently passed state law in Michigan, two school districts will be dissolved.
Inkster and Buena Vista school districts no longer exist.
Their students and teachers have scattered.
The students are looking for schools, the teachers are looking for jobs.
The districts have no say in the matter.
In Governor Snyder’s rush to impose his brand of “reform” on Michigan public schools, local control means nothing. The only thing that matters is destabilizing districts and schools to the maximum extent possible. Just as Mayor Rahm Emanual and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have closed scores of schools without any concern for the views of parents and the local community, Michigan decided to put an end to these two districts because of their deficits. At least 50 more may be on the chopping block before long.
Joy Resmovits reports on Huffington Post that students are being sent to other districts that are in financial distress and also low-performing.
The stories are heartbreaking. Many of the students are enrolling in the public schools of Saginaw, which also has a big deficit. Saginaw plans to lay off all its arts teachers.
Is this a sick society or what? Doesn’t the state of Michigan have a constitutional responsibility to maintain a system of free public education?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is sick….survival of the fittest for the most vulnerable….every human fighting to survive. It will end badly and they will be sorry. It is only a matter of time. Children toss aside by society become angry adults.
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Social Darwinism rears its ugly head again. I thought it and eugenics were things of the past. No longer do I think that…
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Although Synder was a good student at U. of Michigan and is a newcomer to elective office, he is a staunch Republican who seems to have only Republicans appointed to serve in his administration. But wow, he has presided over the bankruptcy of Detroit, and now possibly Pontiac. Not such a sterling achievement.
But then the Dems. Emanual and Bloomberg have not proven to be on the side of We the People…so much for either party. And then there is Obama who chooses all the Wall Street cheats to be in his group…and the hugely damaging Arne Duncan, his basketball buddy to oversee our entire public education system as he turns it private.
We need a new system of governing that does away with endless money infusion, less of the endless lies of candidates to confuse the voters, and less perks for legislators. This is the worst Congress in history, and has less than a 9% approval rating, and the Senate is not far behind. The whole process of governing is rotten and needs overhaul.
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Diane, I read this post and am crying. Tears are rolling down my cheeks. I feel just so awful and feel so deeply for those students and teachers. This is WRONG, plain WRONG!
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The bills that were passed were specifically targeted for those two specific districts. They were given the chance to come up with their own funding and provide proof that they had the money to run their schools. I have gone through several news articles and have yet to find a single reason for why the school districts involved refused or failed to provide the documentation needed to show that they had funding to run their schools.
Can anyone provide a source for the school system’s rationale for not even submitting the paperwork?
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Education is a *state* responsibility.
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Some here have argued that it is a federal responsability, at least in the case of Philadelphia.
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State funding was withheld because of problems caused by other decreases in state funding… Catch 22… Districts have problems to begin with from proverty-stricken population. Bottom line is that there will be no quality neighborhood schools in Michigan when their “reforms” are done.
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I absolutely agree that the seizing of democracy in Michigan through the appointment of emergency caretakers in cities and school districts and the state’s closing these school districts signifies an abrogation of the rights of children in Michigan. The dissolution of these school districts just weeks before school is to begin signifies the unraveling of the social contract.
I blogged about this myself Thursday here: http://janresseger.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/social-contract-broken-in-inkster-and-buena-vista-michigan/ .
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I wouldn’t use the term “caretaker”. I think dictator is more appropriate. I still don’t understand how this is constitutional in America. I wonder where all of the civil rights people are?
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Yes, it is a very sick society –and I find myself thinking this every day.
“A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members”
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What is happening in Michigan is both sickening and scary. It leaves me wondering how vulnerable my own state and city are. We really need to be sure that we do our homework before supporting candidates for any kind of office. We must also be sure to share what we learn about candidates with everyone that will listen. Even better, we need to either encourage people who we know are education friendly to run for office and do everything in our power to support them or run for office ourselves.
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There must be some urgent need to quickly get rid of public schools, unions, and high paid teachers. This might have to do with pensions, high salaries and unions. Maybe they know that we are in an economic depression, and they are trying to get rid of as much expense as they can quickly. There may be many states on the brink of bankruptcy that we don’t know about yet. I don’t think this has ever happened in America (or any country) before. How many countries turn against their own public school system and start attacking it? Very unusual. Something big must be on the horizon that we just don’t see yet. This is just my “gut” feeling right now.
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You are right. Big capital is looking for green pastures; hedge fund managers actually advertise the easy profiteering available in charter schools. Production of goods no longer lucrative, easier to rape and pillage public education or privatizing other service industries. We’re in trouble.
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Yet they keep collecting their tax dollars. This is a clear case of taxation without representation. If you pay for the schools you should have a say in how they are run.
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Both districts are African American districts. Both were struggling and went broke. Snyder doesn’t care about the students and staff. He has cut payments to schools in an attempt to starve many out. One of the districts had been run by Edison in the past but of course that did nothing to improve anything. They districts don’t contain people that are part of the Republican base so there is no danger in destroying them. I feel sorry for the displaced students and staff. I doubt a lot of the teachers will find jobs.
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When a ruling class can only further enrich itself by cannibalizing institutions necessary for the functioning of society, and profiting off the misfortunes of life – think privatized, for-profit health care, prisons, warfare, etc. – it has lost all legitimacy and the right to respect.
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Comes the Revolution, all this will be changed for the better!!!!!! (not)
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Every constitution of every state in the U.S. has a provision to provide and support free public education for every child. When people who are appointed or elected take office, they swear to uphold these constitutions. Actions taken by officials such as Synder in Michigan, Emmanuel and Bloomburg in Chicago and NYC, and a host of others, are clearly in violation of both their oaths and their constitutions. These people are all ripe for lawsuits, and it is time to do so. There should be no suing of districts who are only doing as they are “required.” Sue the elected officials, the higher the better; those state ed. officials, governors, legislators, mayors, even the federal ed. officials, who are selling our children’s futures to the highest bidders should be held accountable. The only way to do that and possibly head off the disaster train they’ve forced onto, is to make them personally pay for the damage they are causing. I think the reason no one is pursuing this path right now is rhetoric. The “reformers” control the narrative and will just throw phrases like “status quo,” “acceptance of mediocrity,” and “civil rights issue of our time,” out to muddy the waters, while the media eats up the easy sound bites. The resources to drive this type of action are harder to come up with, when the big guns are financing this debacle. No easy answers, just difficult choices. But we must do something, and I’m on board when we figure out what that something is.
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Now that would be worthwhile doing. Where can I contribute?
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Any generous lawyers out there who are willing to take this on? You would have the satisfaction of knowing that you were doing what was right for the children of our country.
That is way more than what the so called reformers can truly say.
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Diane, we have another local blogger who is our own Michigan Edu-shyster. http://bit.ly/17riZ8V
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Diane, we have a local blogger who is a bit like a Michigan Edushyster. Enjoy: http://bit.ly/17riZ8V
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