Chris Savage of Eclectablog writes here about the disaster of Governor Rick Snyder’s “emergency manager” plan for poor school districts.
In Muskegon Heights, Governor Snyder installed an emergency manager because the poor, almost all-black district had run out of money. Instead of bailing out the district, which was the state’s responsibility, Snyder put an outside manager in charge. He proceeded to give the district to a for-profit charter operator, Mosaica. After two years, Mosaica departed because it couldn’t make a profit.
The emergency manager had to borrow more money.
Finally, in 2016, the school district was returned to local control. However, things are still not good. In fact, the district is still dealing with the fallout from the state takeover of their schools. As it turns out, in an effort to find every last nickel and dime under the sofa cushions, the Emergency Managers sold off everything that wasn’t nailed down.
That includes the playground equipment. Apparently the Emergency Manager thought the kids could just do without things like swings, slides, and monkey bars to play on at recess.
Now the children have a bare playground.
Does anyone care? Obviously no one in the state government cares. If they can’t raise the money locally, why should the state care. If they were white kids, that might be different. But they are not.
Chris Savage writes:
The day of funding schools using crowd sourcing efforts like GoFundMe drives appears to be at hand.
I have another idea. How about requiring the failed Emergency Manager to pay the cost of new playground equipment?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Koch brothers do not care. The Walton family does not care. Betsy DeVos does not care. All the other corporate reformers do not care. The GOP does not care.
To them, the only thing that counts is wealth and money and children are just another means to make more of it.
In an effort to find every last nickel and dime under the sofa cushions, the Emergency Managers sold off everything that wasn’t nailed down.”
Apparently they even sold off stuff that WAS nailed down, if they sold the swingsets and monkey bars. That stuff is normally anchored into the ground with concrete, which is much harder than nails to remove!
I have another idea. How about requiring the failed Emergency Manager to pay the cost of new playground equipment?
or the Governor !!!
Yes, and if they can’t pay, to have them serve time in Federal
prison for violating the civil rights of elementary school children.
Isnt the “right to playground equipment” part of the Bill of Rights?
If not, it should be.
Great idea.
Detroit’s emergency manager was switched to Flint, where he shut off the supply of clean water, to save money. Thousands of children were poisoned. He and the Governor should be in jail.
I can’t take much more of this.
When do we start to decide to suppport our schools, children, and teachers, support our communities, including working on the problems of poverty?
{{Sigh}}
The question isn’t just when, it’s how. Asking nicely hasn’t worked. What’s our next step? What are we willing to risk?
What has happened to the Students in Muskegon Heights is a damn SIN!!! The Governor, Emergency Managers and anyone else associated with this disaster should go to prison for the rest of their lives and then straight to hell. What they have created is a living hell for those Students, Parents and Teachers. The Students are going to pay for the rest of their lives for what criminal acts have been played upon them.
Sold playground equipment to pay bills! Holy cow.
More likely that they sold the playground equipment to buy the Mosaic CEO a “massage” (if you catch my drift)