Detroit Rock Bottom

Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog

Yesterday, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr gave a frank State of the City report that showed that the city is “clearly insolvent”. Not a big surprise to anyone except a handful of folks who seem to think it’s all a big mistake and the city is just fine financially. For as much as I despise the concept of an unelected Emergency Manager taking over the running of a city, I do believe that Detroit will never move forward if those in charge aren’t living in the real world where even profit sharing they’ve been denied by the state isn’t enough to patch the holes in their budget.

Orr had some things to say to the Detroit Free Press that I thought were spot on:

[Orr] said he has found a city workforce filled with talented people who “want to do their jobs, and want to be good at it” despite understaffing, demoralizing pay and benefits cuts and grave doubts about the city’s survival.

Orr said he wants to stay away from apportioning blame among city officials, particularly Mayor Dave Bing and the current City Council.

“Especially in the backdrop of the neglect they had in the prior administration, which was extraordinary, they were trying to keep a city going with what they had to work with,” Orr said.

Detroit’s crisis, he said, dates back decades.

“What stands out to me is 40 years of dropping demographics, of reducing revenues — you don’t get the magnitude of neighborhood blight we have overnight — of no one having a plan or solution for that, of inviting, quite frankly, some class of residents to leave. And they did. They literally went across 8 Mile and started building buildings in Southfield. Without a vision for what you want your city to be three, five, 10, 20, 30 years out, the totality of those circumstances drove us here.”

That last highlighted bit is something you won’t hear from a lot of proponents of an Emergency Manager for Detroit. They simply point to “corruption” and “ineptitude” and “poor leadership”, wanting to place the blame on the black Democratic leadership over the years. It’s an easy peg to hang their hat on because it allows them to deny the reality of how Detroit got to where it is today. It’s a two-dimensional world where the rich that fled to the suburbs played no role, where the globalization of our manufacturing industries played no role and where everything can be blamed on a handful of black leaders.

So, good for Kevyn Orr for putting that out there. It’s as important to recognize that as it is to admit Detroit’s problems go beyond getting a bit of money back from the state for revenue sharing they should have received.

Mayor Dave Bing, who officially kicks of his reelection campaign today, was there to say he and Orr are singing from the same hymnal:

“My administration has prepared the runway for the overhaul that the EM appears to be planning,” Bing said. “It’s encouraging to know that he and I are on the same page. He’s highlighting on and focusing on the same initiatives that my administration has already begun to make progress on, and that’s public safety, transportation, lighting, blight and recreation.”

One of the main differences that Orr has that Bing does not, is a set of financial tools that city administrators do not have. The ability to renegotiate or even toss out contracts is something most mayors of failing cities would love to have but simply do not. In my conversations with Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, he’s said as much.

Meanwhile, the NAACP has filed a lawsuit against the state claiming that Public Act 436 — the latest version of Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law — violates the voting rights of African Americans in Detroit.

“It’s fundamentally about our right to vote, and our right, as constitutionally guaranteed, to select and elect our own publicly elected officials,” said Detroit branch President Rev. Wendell Anthony.

The suit also claims the state applies the law selectively to communities of color, since white communities in similar states of financial distress have avoided emergency managers.

“Too many people have died for this cause,” attorney Nabih Ayad said of voting. “And for them to go backwards now on this issue, it’s unbelievable. It’s deplorable.”

Governor Snyder’s office released a statement saying, in part, “The communities or schools currently with an emergency manager or going through any part of state’s EM process are because of financial facts and crises, certainly not because the make-up of their populations.” While that may be technically true, the reality is that it certainly IS having a disparate impact on African Americans in Michigan and some more white areas seem to be escaping the imposition of an Emergency Manager despite their financial problems. That said, the NAACP’s lawsuit is likely to go about as far as the previous lawsuits like it in other cities have: nowhere. You can read their complaint HERE (pdf).

Orr says it will take 6 weeks for a full review to take place and to determine if the city can avoid bankruptcy. In the meantime, he’ll be meeting with vendors and labor unions to see if they can come to agreements outside of a bankruptcy proceeding. One thing we know for sure, banks will get paid first. Everyone else will wait in line because that’s written into PA 436 which says the operating plan cities under Emergency Managers develop must include the following provisions:

The payment in full of the scheduled debt service requirements on all bonds, notes, and municipal securities of the local government, contract obligations in anticipation of which bonds, notes, and municipal securities are issued, and all other uncontested legal obligations.

Yet somehow they’ll blame the teachers…

The Michigan township of Buena Vista, in the news recently for its racist Township Clerk, is back in the news today with the announcement that the school district has closed its doors over a month before the end of the school year. Why? Turns out the school district had taken $580,000 in state funding for a program for incarcerated youths that it no longer runs. With an outstanding bill of $400,000, the state cut off its funding and it now has no money.

The district’s 27 teachers had agreed to work without pay for a week while the district sorted out its mess but, this morning, the schools were closed:

Students and parents in the Buena Vista School District are waking up to discover that the district has shut its doors.

In financial distress and unable to pay its employees, the Buena Vista School District is closed Tuesday, May 7, a letter on the district website states.

The notice tells parents that a community meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Central Office, 705 Towerline.

“We have worked diligently to attempt to avoid this situation since it first appeared as an immediate possibility to us this week and continue to work with officials at the State of Michigan in an attempt to mitigate this possibility,” the letter reads.

“The District is, therefore, taking the first steps toward confirming a financial emergency under Michigan Public Act 436 of 2012, and will continue to Work with State officials and the leadership of the District’s bargaining units to provide educational continuity to the children of the Buena Vista School District.”

Although the teachers had voted to work without pay for a week, the Michigan Education Association said it was ready to take legal action to force the district to pay the teachers, presumably because they had absolutely nothing to do with the financial emergency the district faces.

This is just a glimpse of things to come, as MEA Executive Director Gretchen Dziadosz says:

Gretchen Dziadosz, executive director of the Michigan Education Association — the state’s largest teachers union, of which the Buena Vista union is an affiliate — said during the conference call that teachers are worried about how they’re going to pay their bills and feed their children.

“We at MEA are fearful this is only the beginning,” Dziadosz said. That’s because a growing number of districts are facing financial struggles, she said.

The Buena Vista district is one of about 50 in the state that are dealing with a deficit.

This will ultimately be somehow blamed on the teachers if the past is a prelude to the future. Demonizing teachers in order to strip them of pay and benefits is the modus operandi of the anti-union, anti-public school zealots in Michigan and across the country. The next stop in the DeVos plan is to privatize as many schools as possible, preferably to for-profit corporations.

Further defunding of schools is still on the docket, too. Today, Teachers Appreciation Day, is the day a House committee meets to decide whether to slash another $770+ million from the School Aid Fund to pay for road repair. Click HERE to see how you can take action.

The truth emerges…

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced this morning that he’s stepping down as EM when his contract expires later this month. He said, in his mind, the crisis is over and the DPS is on its way to being financially stable.

“I’m confident that what we have put together is meaningful … if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t leave,” Roberts said. “The deficit elimination plan says we’re going to get rid of the deficit at the end of the 2015-16 school year — and we’re on track for that — and get out of here and turn (DPS) back over to the local people to run it.”

Roberts said something else, however, that shocked those who were present. He told them that his instructions when he took the job were to “blow up the district and dismantle it”.

Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said he had expected Roberts to discuss Monday’s upcoming visit by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

“When he said, ‘I’m stepping down,’ all of our mouths just dropped,” Johnson said. “I can’t say it’s a bad day. I can’t say it’s a good day, because we don’t know who’s coming next.”

Roberts also told those gathered more shocking news: His initial instructions when he arrived in Detroit were to “blow up the district and dismantle it,” Johnson said.

“He’s got nothing to lose by saying it now,” Johnson added.

Roberts said he spent the first several months of his tenure convincing state officials the district was worth saving, according to board members.

“Blow it up – those were his exact words,” Detroit School Board member Tawana Simpson confirmed.

Board member Reverend David Murray echoed disbelief at Roberts’ statements.

“He told us they wanted this district completely demolished,” Murray said. Roberts refused to do that, the board members said.

Whoa.

It’s one thing have your school district taken over by the state. It’s entirely another to know that those taking it over had plans to destroy it. Roberts’ honesty about this calls the entire Emergency Manager program in Michigan into question. Does Governor Snyder and his administration feel the same way about the cities they have taken over? Are Emergency Managers across Michigan being instructed to “blow up and dismantle” the municipalities over which they have complete and utter control? What other secret directives have been given? The secrecy with which the Snyder administration has operated in, much of which is only now coming to light, make these entirely valid questions.

As for the DPS, they aren’t out of the woods yet. There haven’t been any formal announcements about the DPS being out of their emergency so it seems likely another EM will be appointed.

You have to wonder what instructions that person will receive.

UPDATE: Roberts appears to be walking back his comments or at least ensuring that they weren’t taken to mean that Governor Snyder was the one who “instructed” him to “blow up the district and dismantle it”. The section blockquoted above from the Detroit Free Press article has been edited and now reads like this:

Roberts also told those gathered that when he arrived at DPS, he was told to “blow up” the district and dismantle it, Johnson said.

“Blow it up — those were his exact words,” Detroit School Board member Tawanna Simpson confirmed.

At a news conference today, Roberts said the governor never instructed him to dismantle DPS, but factions from Lansing to Detroit, from community members to educators, had wanted him to make wholesale changes in DPS and “blow it up,” figuratively speaking.

“They had totally given up,” Roberts said. “But we can make it work.”

At the end of the day, I think we all know who the “factions” that Roberts speaks of are. They are the folks who have their hearts set on privatizing as much of Michigan’s public school system as they possibly can. This includes a collection of Michigan Republican lawmakers and, very likely, the DeVos family or at least people aligned with them.

UPDATE 2: I received this from DPS Emergency Manager Roy Roberts’ office just a short time ago:

It is unfortunate that comments I made this morning during a meeting with members of the Detroit School Board and DPS union presidents to inform them of my decision to retire are being completely mischaracterized.

At no point did I say that Gov. Snyder or his administration had instructed me to dismantle Detroit Public Schools. In fact, he and his team asked me to take on the role of emergency manager in order to save Detroit Public Schools and ensure that the children of Detroit would receive the education they so rightly deserve.

Over the last two years, Gov. Snyder and his administration have never wavered in their support of me, my team, this system and most importantly, the children of Detroit.

[CC photo credit: U.S. Navy | Wikimedia Commons]

Hallelujah!

[Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog]

The small town of Ecorse, Michigan, under control of an Emergency Financial Manager or Emergency Manager since 2009, has been deemed to have emerged from its emergency and will now be indefinitely under the control of a Transition Advisory Board (TAB).

Joyce Parker, the Emergency Manager for both Ecorse and Allen Park will be on the TAB. Gov. Snyder provided a list of her accomplishments:

Among the benchmarks noted by the governor: eliminating the deficit as well as a $5 million structural deficit; reorganizing the police and fire departments into a public safety department; cutting annual operating costs by $4.3 million; raising annual revenues by $2.3 million; saving $2.8 million by rebidding city services; securing more than $4 million in grants to support city operations and services and setting a two-year budget.

The city also merged court services with River Rouge and Lincoln Park and implemented a police and fire special assessment.

It’s a great thing and, Stephen Henderson at the Detroit Free Press describes, Parker has accomplished this by being as much of a true partner with Ecorse as an EM can be:

[S]he did it all pretty cooperatively. She held lots of public meetings to get citizens’ input, and actually worked with unions on altering collective bargaining agreements; it wasn’t all kumbaya and sing-alongs, but in general, her approach was inclusive rather than purely dictatorial.

Parker leaves behind an entire community planning model that’s based on citizen participation and input.

My concern, one that I have been voicing for over a year now, is shared by Henderson, as well: the conditions that led to Ecorse’s situation have barely changed. It is still a city with far fewer resources and a dramatically shrunken tax base – the result of the departure of the auto manufacturing that once made southeastern Michigan a middle class engine. Here’s Henderson:

If there are doubts about Ecorse’s future, they arise from more systemic issues that are affecting all cities. Is there enough of a tax base left to support city government? Should cities like Ecorse be governed by larger jurisdictions that can leverage greater tax revenue to provide services?

In short, can Michigan (which has some 1,800 local governments) afford to maintain as much local control as it has historically?

I am, of course, thrilled to see Ecorse emerge from emergency management. I pray that they can sustain it.

Dude, slow down

Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog

It looks like expansion of the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) in Michigan is going to be put on hold, at least until this summer. Why? Because Republican Senator and Education Committee Chair Phil Pavlov is unhappy. Why is Phil Pavlov unhappy? Because the EAA legislation passed by the House only allows for FIFTY SCHOOLS to be taken over by the state and put into their “school district for wayward schools”. Apparently Sen. Pavlov wants the state to be able to take over even MORE schools than that.

Republicans in the state Senate are demanding changes to a bill that would facilitate state takeovers of struggling schools.

Legislation to expand the state’s Education Achievement Authority passed in the state House last month.

But Senate Education Committee Chair Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair Township) says the bill that passed in the state House doesn’t go far enough to protect students stuck in failing schools. {…}

Pavlov says he’s worried about language that would cap state takeovers through the EAA at 50 schools.

He also wants to remove a provision that would let regional public school officials take control of struggling schools instead of the state.

Pavlov says his committee probably won’t take up the bill until June at the earliest.

So, why is it that Sen. Pavlov is so upset that the state can only take over 50 schools? Looking at the amount of money being thrown at the EAA, I’m starting to wonder if it’s because he has dollar signs in his eyes.

Last week, we found out that the EAA has gotten $12 million in loans from the Detroit Public schools that nobody knew about until some pesky Democratic (Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton) took a peak behind the curtain:

Democratic lawmakers attacked the state’s school reform district Friday for using Detroit Public Schools as a conduit for $12 million in loans and for inadequately training security officers. {…}

The lawmakers’ accusations come as the state Senate is considering a bill that would establish the EAA in law and allow it to include 35 more schools statewide. Young said he does not support the bill, but he intends to introduce an amendment that would require more training for EAA security officers who currently do not receive training in first aid or CPR.

The security concerns come on the heels of accusations against the EAA from Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton, a Democrat from Huntington Woods, who said the EAA had stalled and charged her $2,642.05 for documents she requested under the Freedom of Information Act last month. Lipton released the information this week, including documents that show that Detroit Public Schools took out loans through the Michigan Finance Authority’s state aid note program and gave the money to the the EAA to pay its bills. {…}

DPS took out a $6-million loan in September and passed the money on to the EAA to help with start up costs. The EAA repaid the loan in January and paid DPS an $87,000 markup on top of $30,000 in interest, said John Covington, chancellor for the EAA. In February, DPS took out another $6-million loan and passed the money on to the EAA. That is due to be paid off by July 22.

The board was never presented with information on the transactions, EAA board president Carol Goss said Friday. The board was not required to approve the transactions, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

The fact that the EAA cannot educate kids in poor school districts on the amount that they are given by the state even when the state itself is running them is not surprising, of course., at least not to the folks who have been struggling to do so for the past decade. I wrote about that earlier in the year when we learned that EAA Chancellor John Covington had applied for and recieved a multimillion dollar federal grant for the EAA. What shocked many of us at the time was that he got the grant based on increasing the number of schools in the EAA district to 60, something that the law currently does not allow. So, yeah, no wonder Republicans are in such a hurry eager to boost the size of the EAA. There are millions of dollars just sitting there for the taking — $35,491,095, in fact. NOTE: the strikeouts above are the result of a reader pointing out that the current law actually DOES allow for more schools and, in fact, the House bill that Sen. Pavlov dislikes so much puts a cap on the number that does not currently exist.

By the way, it’s worth noting that EAA schools are already receiving more than the schools in the Detroit Public School district:

The new statewide school district will have more money to spend on education next year than Detroit Public Schools because it will get more funding from the state, pay teachers less and offer no pension plan.

But that grant money is not the only money the EAA is getting. After narrowly missing getting a “Race to the Top” grant of between $5 million and $40 million (the EAA was the only Michigan finalist), it received a $10 million grant from the Broad Foundation. John Covington is a graduate of the “Broad Foundation Fellow” program and the Broad Foundation is a strong proponent of for-profit charter schools (read more on the Broad Foundation HERE.)

The EAA seems like a magnet for outside funding to flow into Michigan. If Republicans led by the pro-privatization Senate Education Committee Chair Phil Pavlov and the Broad Foundation-trained Chancellor they have running the show can privatize some of that, it will be yet another conduit to funnel taxpayer funds and other monies directly into the bank accounts and profit statement bottom lines of for-profit education factories.

I personally think that most of the people involved with the EAA have a sincere desire to see Michigan’s worst schools get back on their feet and start to offer our kids a quality education. However, with the corporatists in the Michigan Republican caucus getting their greedy fingers on it, I worry. And those worries are justified.

I’ll leave you with one more thing: pulling the 40 worst-performing schools out of the Detroit Public School system should go a long way toward improving the test results of the remaining schools. That will make DPS Emergency Manager Roy Robert’s numbers look much, much better, giving Republicans an Emergency Manager success to hang their hat on.

That would be true, of course, if DPS testing scores weren’t still dropping.

The State of Michigan is in a weird state

Let’s start out with something besides Detroit, shall we?

Flint Emergency Manager imposes governing classes on City Council, restores part pay, and makes them take his flak

Flint Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz restored 30% of the Flint City Council’s pay ($7,000/year) and 60% of Mayor Dayne Walling’s pay. As a condition, the Council members must complete classes on how to govern:

It’s back to school for Flint City Council members if they want to collect their partial pay that emergency manager Ed Kurtz reinstated last week.

Kurtz is requiring council members to complete the Michigan Municipal League’s level one core courses and receive the MML Education Award within one year.

“It should certainly help them get back to where they can run the city,” Kurtz said.

The restored pay of $7,000, which is 30 percent of a council member’s salary, doesn’t come with benefits.

The courses from the Michigan Municipal League are usually on Fridays and Saturdays at sites throughout the state. The eight hours of instruction are on topics such as board governance, human resources, leadership skills, municipal finance, strategic planning and others.

While the city will pay for the courses, city council members will be responsible for travel, lodging and meal expenses.

This seems like a smart move and one that I’ve been advocating in some form or another since the spring of 2011. Why not help government leaders be better leaders?

Kurtz also issued an order (pdf) that is a bit more troubling. The order says:

1. Meet once per month (4th Monday) in order to hear concerns from constituents. Council members must be in attendance throughout the meeting.
2. Accept and respond to constituent calls and requests for information. Council members shall submit actionable items to the Emergency Manager in writing.
3. Schedule meetings as requested by the Emergency Manager to address issues that have significant impact on the City such as the Comprehensive Master Plan, KWA, Charter Revisions and other issues that may arise.
4. Complete Level One of the Michigan Municipal League (MML) core courses for municipal government and receive the MML Education Award within one year. The City will pay for the costs of the actual training, exclusive of travel, lodging and meals.
5. All communications with staff must be in writing and directed through the Emergency Manager’s office.
6. Comply with any other request authorized by Public Act 436 from the Emergency Manager on timely basis. To be eligible for compensation, each Council member shall execute an acknowledgment of receipt of this order and agreement to abide by its terms.

So, like I said, I think the class thing is a terrific idea. What I find troubling is the Kurtz is forcing the City Council to hear all of the complaints of the citizens of Flint on his behalf and then sort of filter them out so he doesn’t have to deal with the riff raff. They have to hold meetings and take calls where they are sure to get an earful from disgruntled Flint residents and then let him know when he needs to get involved. Very tidy.

I also find the “don’t talk to City staff without my knowledge” provision supremely offensive. These are, after all, democratically elected officials. They shouldn’t have to pass their communications with City staff members through an unelected dictator. Period.

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr considering hiring someone to do the job HE was hired to do

This blows my mind:

Detroit emergency financial manager Kevyn Orr is considering creating an auditor general position for the city.

According to the Emergency Manager, the move would improve oversight of the 300-million dollars in federal grant funding the city receives each year. Orr says the city needs to keep a closer eye on how it spends federal dollars.

I’m sorry, but isn’t that exactly the sort of thing that we hired Orr himself to do? I mean, the taxpayers of Michigan are paying this dude something like a quarter million dollars a year to sort out Detroit’s finances. Isn’t one of the tasks covered by that enviable salary overseeing federal grants? Surely there are comparable positions already in the Detroit city government. If those already in charge of keeping tabs on grants and such need further training, fine, do that. But hiring someone to do the job we hired HIM to do? That’s ludicrous.

UPDATE: As Bill Cole points out in the comments, Detroit already has an auditor general. His name is Mark W. Lockridge. So why is Orr planning to create a position that already exists???

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr ready to do away with collective bargaining with city employees

In a move that was predicted from Day One when Public Act 4 was passed, Detroit EM Orr sent a letter to “state employment relations officials” letting them know that PA 436 gives him the right not “to bargain or participate in compulsory arbitration with Detroit’s public safety unions”.

Kevyn Orr, a former bankruptcy lawyer, alerted state labor officials on Thursday that he has no legal requirement to bargain or participate in compulsory arbitration with Detroit’s public safety unions.

The statement by Orr, sent in letters to state employment relations officials, is his first public indication that he actively is considering exercising some of the most sweeping powers granted to him under the 2012 state law that created the position of emergency manager.

Detroit has agreements with some 48 unions, and outside analysts say the city needs concessions from organized labor if it is to restore public finances devastated by a shrinking population and high unemployment.

Staking out his position in the letters, Orr stated that Detroit is in receivership, and he has no duty to bargain under procedures set forward in the state Public Employment Relations Act. The city and its lawyers “are authorized to advance this position and seek…any and all relief available by law,” he said.

Orr’s move incensed unions for firefighters, police officers and paramedics, whose current pacts with the city end on June 30.

I’ll give him credit for not excluding cops and firefighters as Republicans have done in much of their union-crushing legislation. Orr, at least, is “fair”. You know, if you consider ignoring the fact that unions exist and have rights “fair”.

The “Belle Isle as Galt’s Gulch” idea just won’t die

In Ayn Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged”, a near bible for the tea party and for libertarians, the smartest, wealthiest people in the country all walk away to form their own little haven called “Galt’s Gulch”. A Detroit businessman, Rod Lockwood, wants to turn Belle Isle into an independent commonwealth that looks remarkably like “Galt’s Gulch”. When he first trotted out the idea, it was all but laughed out of the state. But Lockwood is back, apparently, this time proposing a new community named “Jefferson” on the other side of the Belle Isle bridge that will be home to all of the Detroiters who will act as servants to the wealthy living in the new haven for the rich:

It’s hard to tell whether Rod Lockwood is in on his own joke.

The businessman, who amassed a fortune in real estate, made a radical, controversial proposal earlier this year to buy Belle Isle from the city for $1 billion and transform it into a Hong-Kong-style quasi-independent commonwealth.

Citizenship would require a $300,000 stake, but starving artists or musicians could earn residency in the commonwealth through a kind of hardship sponsorship. Because, you know, diversity.

Lockwood seems incredibly sincere, even though he hasn’t received support from any of the entities whose approval would be required to make this plan happen. But hope springs eternal, I suppose, and on Friday, Lockwood unveiled the second component of his plan: The creation of a district named “Jefferson” just off the coast of Belle Isle.

A logistical hub and residential center that would support the island and create thousands of jobs (mostly servicing the island’s wealthy residents), Jefferson is intended to sweeten the Belle Isle Commonwealth pot. Lockwood says the plan should convince skeptical city officials that his proposal for Belle Isle would provide the kind of economic lift that could truly move the needle in Detroit.

Here’s what Lockwood says about “Jefferson” on his webpage in answer to the FAQ “Why will Detroit do this?”:

Detroit will see many benefits. The $1 billion dollars Detroit receives from the sale will be used to help with blight removal and train people with the skills needed to fill the thousands of construction jobs created on Belle Isle. About $4 billion of public infrastructure will be required on the island plus another $20 billion of private construction. Also, the huge influx of capital into Belle Isle will cause spin-off factories, businesses and retail services which will have to be located in Detroit near Belle Isle. In the book, a new community called Jefferson is one of the beneficiaries of the Belle Isle Midwest Tiger, as it is located on the other side of the Belle Isle bridge. Jefferson itself will bring thousands of construction jobs as housing, restaurants, hotels, retail and golf courses will be built to support the Midwest Tiger, creating an additional $20 billion in construction activity. It is likely a second monorail connecting Jefferson to downtown Detroit will be built, again creating more jobs and an explosion of new construction activity in Detroit.

Let’s be clear: this utopian dream of his is nothing more than an island with its own colony of servants conveniently living on the mainland where they won’t sully the Island of Wealth and Excess with their presence. It’s offensive beyond anything I’ve seen in a very long time and the fact that anyone at all is paying attention to him is astonishing.

Fortunately, it’s never going to happen.

[CC Photo credit: Michigan Municipal League (MML) | Flickr]

Another failure of Emergency Management

The southeastern city of Hamtramck (spelled correctly, pronounced “Ham-tram-ick”) is facing the prospect of its city being taken over by an Emergency Manager as the state has ordered a financial review team to assess its financial situation.

Hamtramck is a small city of just over 22,000. Its population is just over half (53.6%) white and has an unusually high population of Asians (21.5%.)

This would be Round Two for Hamtramck. In 2000, Governor John Engler installed an Emergency Financial Manager, a familiar player Louis Schimmel. Six years later, books balanced and financial crisis “solved”, Schimmel left and, in 2007, the city was once again back in charge of its government.

However, that didn’t last long. In 2010, facing continuing budget issues, Hamtramck asked the state to be allowed to declare bankruptcy. They were denied.

Today, Hamtramck is still in trouble:

By 2012, the city faced a $3.5 million deficit and began a series of measures, including demands for concessions frompublic safety workers, talks with the treasurer’s office and the publication of an independent audit. So far this year, the city’s deficit is $2.7 million.

The report’s findings, published in August, prompted the City Council to ask the FBI to conduct an investigation into potential misconduct among department heads over contracting of services.

Councilman Bob Zwolak said Hamtramck’s troubles aren’t unique. With a dearth of tax revenues, skyrocketing health care and legacy costs, and cities locked into union contracts, cities are struggling.

These are not problems caused by unionized workers. They are problems caused by the collapse of the manufacturing tax base, shrinking populations and a lack of investment in aging manufacturing cores. Balancing the books the first time around didn’t solve these ongoing issues and, as has been the case for the other cities under Emergency Managers, there’s little reason to believe they will be solved by a second attempt to do so either.

It’s hard to keep up…

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a summary of the latest news about Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law and the new surrounding our illustrious saviors dictators Emergency Managers so I thought it would be a good time to so. On a personal note, I was interviewed by freelance journalist Chris Lewis this past week for a piece he’s doing for The Atlantic so it’s clear to me that this story continues to receive national attention.

Detroit Emergency Manager Orr issues Order putting himself in charge of the City

On April 11th, EM Kevyn Orr issued Order No.3 (pdf). The key section of the order is this:

Any orders, ordinances, resolutions, appointments, approvals, terminations, appropriations, contracts, permits or other related actions of the Detroit Mayor and City Council from and after March 28, 2013, shall be submitted to the Emergency Manager for consideration, but will not be considered valid or effective unless and until approved by the Emergency Manager or his designee in writing.

The other Orders can be found HERE.

Detroit Emergency Manager Orr’s former boss/company hired to fix Detroit

In a move that some are calling a conflict of interest, Jones Day, the law firm that Orr worked for before resigning to become the EM of Detroit, has been hired to sort out Detroit’s debt issue. The meeting where the City Council approved the hiring, which passed on a 5-2 vote with Council members JoAnn Watson and Brenda Jones dissenting, was disrupted by protesters.

Council members JoAnn Watson and Brenda Jones voted against the $3.3 million contract. Council President Charles Pugh, president pro tem Gary Brown and members James Tate, Saunteel Jenkins and Andre Spivey voted yes. Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and Kwame Kenyatta were absent.

Nearly 100 protesters yelled “shame” repeatedly as they left the council’s chambers. Although Orr severed his ties to Jones Day after he was appointed in Detroit, protesters say using his former firm represents a conflict of interest.

“Jones Day is a disgrace. They are taking away our rights,” the Rev. W.J. Rideout said after Tuesday’s session. “… This is our city. We pay taxes here and they deserve to stand up for democracy (and) the wrongdoing of our people. Gov. Snyder, Kevyn Orr, Mayor Bing and some of our city council are all sitting in bed together.” {…}

As the council attempted to weigh the issue, a few dozen protesters began kneeling down, holding hands and singing and chanting. They chanted “Whose City, Our City” and sang “We Shall Not be Moved” as Pugh temporarily adjourned the session.

Detroit Emergency Manager Orr moving quickly to privatize city services

In what has become a familiar refrain, Detroit EM Orr is moving quickly to privatize city services to for-profit vendors:

Even as Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is quietly meeting with city officials and studying Detroit’s grim financials, plans are accelerating behind the scenes to transfer selected departments and programs to outside agencies.

The likely moves could be announced as early as this week. They initially are expected to target the city’s 120-person Planning and Development Department, the demolition of abandoned property and other functions whose mismanagement are considered to be blocking deployment of federal dollars, tax revenue generation or both.

“The inertia is what causes problems for the city,” a ranking source familiar with Orr’s thinking said in an interview. “He’s got a lot of projects on the griddle and he’s ready to move soon. Things are moving pretty fast.”

Detroit Emergency Manager Orr redefines role of Financial Advisory Board

Detroit EM Orr is keeping the Financial Advisory Board put together under the City/State consent agreement active, giving them a new role in turning the city’s finances around:

[Detroit's] Financial Advisory Board will meet today for the first time since Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr took office, amid questions about why it still exists.

The panel’s role is unclear — and some council members question whether it’s necessary — but Orr’s spokesman said he intends to keep the group even though its “scope and role” will change.

“He wants to keep them in place to provide some operational and financial accountability,” said Bill Nowling, Orr’s spokesman.

“We have a lot of people on that board who have a tremendous amount of financial experience. Having them there, looking over everyone’s shoulder is a good thing. It’s reassuring to our creditors and our taxpayers that there’s an extra level of oversight. Kevyn thinks that’s important.”

Councilwoman Brenda Jones, though, said the board is “supposed to be gone” with Orr’s arrival and has questioned why its members are still paid. Its nine members are eligible to make $25,000 per year and have met monthly about the city’s finances since Detroit agreed to a consent agreement with the state last April.

Unionized Detroit firefighters will have a new contract imposed on them July 1st

Deadline Detroit reports that unionized Detroit firefighters are going to have a new union contract imposed on them by EM Orr on July 1st:

The stark new world of Detroit under an emergency manager became clear for Detroit’s firefighters this week when the city told them they would get a new contract July 1.

And, for the first time in 80 years, there will be no negotiations.

“They are using the new Emergency Manager Law to purposely avoid bargaining with us and, instead, force new terms of employment on us,” the executive board of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association told its members in an email.

“Please be aware of our situation and operate accordingly.”

Dan McNamara, the longtime union president, said city representatives refused to be specific. He said changes could be imposed on work rules, conditions, pay, health benefits, safety, pensions and the department’s unique seniority system.

“This is important,” McNamara said. “This is historic.”

The 930-member fire union, organized in 1933, has fought over the years to keep seniority, in which longevity is the only criteria for moving up in the ranks, from firefighter to sergeant to lieutenant to captain to battalion chief.

Detroit Tigers’ opening day game was disrupted by EM protest on I-75

An increasingly common form of protest of the new Emergency Manager in Detroit is to clog Detroit highways with lines of slow moving vehicles. The most recent protest of this type was on April 5th, opening day of the Detroit Tigers home season:

A procession of vehicles traveling barely above idling speed leisurely rolled southbound on Interstate 75 in Detroit about 10:45 a.m. Friday. Spedometer dials quivered below 10 mph as 70 mph speed limit signs passed slowly on the roadside.

It was another of what some are calling a “slowdown in Motown,” an act of civil disobedience meant to protest the installation of Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr in Detroit.

“We want to do it on opening day today, not just to bring attention to Snyder’s policy and the EM in Detroit but also that there are documents that indicate Mike Illitch owes the city of Detroit some… tax revenue,” said David Bullock, an organizer. “We believe the corporate entities in Detroit should be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

“The people of the city of Detroit are not happy about the present state of affairs.” {…}

The protest began at Clay Road on the border of Hamtramck and traveled south to near the Madison exit on I-75.

Cars backed up, many honked, some drivers were visibly frustrated, one driver of a commercial truck pounding his steering wheel and visibly yelling to himself as he tailgated within feet one of the crawling protestors.

At least one protestor vehicle occupied each lane. Impatient motorists passed on either shoulder, sometimes rolling down their windows to shout at the impeding vehicle.

Suit to rid Detroit of Emergency Manager tossed out of court

Robert Davis’s ongoing effort to keep Detroit out from under the control of an Emergency Manager was dealt yet another blow last week when a Lansing Circuit Court judge dismissed his lawsuit:

A lawsuit seeking to block the appointment of Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr has been dismissed.

Attorney Andrew Paterson said Monday that the lawsuit became “moot” when a Lansing Circuit Court judge refused last month to hold a hearing before Orr’s hiring by the state’s Emergency Loan Board.

Paterson represents Citizens United Against Corrupt Government, headed by activist Robert Davis.

The group sued on March 8, saying Gov. Rick Snyder was unlawfully recruiting and interviewing candidates for the emergency manager job.

Former Highland Park Emergency Manager Blackwell sees his day in court, gets sentenced to probation

Former Highland Park EM Art Blackwell reneged on an agreement to take a lower salary and, instead, paid himself handsomely for his work there. He was originally indicted for embezzlement and, yesterday, was sentenced to two years of probation and must pay the city back $264,000 in restitution:

Blackwell, who was originally charged with embezzlement, took a plea deal ahead of a scheduled trial in May.

He pleaded no contest to a charge of public money safe keeping.

He was also ordered to pay $264,000 in restitution.

Blackwell was accused of raking in the money that wasn’t authorized or part of his contract.

Blackwell was appointed by then Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in April 2005 to bring the city out of financial trouble. He promised to work for the cash-strapped city for $1 a year.

Pontiac Emergency Manager Schimmel planning to eliminate health insurance coverage for city retirees

Self-proclaimed “dictator” of Pontiac, EM Lou Schimmel has plans to eliminate health insurance coverage for retired city employees to fill the city’s budget gap:

Schimmel plans to ask the Michigan Department of Treasury within the next month for permission to eliminate health care benefits altogether for the city’s 1,000 or so general employee retirees, most of whom are Medicare-eligible.

The city would also stop providing supplemental Medicare Advantage insurance for general retirees, for which it pays $362 per retiree per month. The emergency manager said he’s planning to provide an opportunity for retirees to continue to purchase their health insurance as a group.

“I would simply love to pay for retiree health care, but — it’s a problem,” Schimmel said. “This will structurally fix the city financially.”

It’s so typical of the rude bedside manner of our state’s EMs that Schimmel would call the health care for retirees “a problem”. It will certainly be a problem for those retirees who have never thought they’d need to plan for health insurance coverage in their retirement. This is a promise made and broken and these people have not had enough advance notice to plan for it.

Former Detroit Public Schools superintendent sues DPS Emergency Manager after being fired

Shortly after PA 436 took effect and gave DPS EM Roy Roberts control over non-academic parts of running the school system, he fired Superintendent John Telford. Telford is now suing Roberts for violating his due process rights and the contracts clause of the Constitution:

The former interim superintendent of Detroit Public Schools is suing Emergency Manager Roy Roberts, the governor and state treasurer in federal court, alleging his termination violates his due process rights and the contracts clause of the U.S. Constitution.

John Telford filed a 19-page complaint Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, accusing Roberts, Gov. Rick Snyder and Treasurer Andy Dillon of violating his 14th Amendment right to due process when he was fired March 28, the day the state’s new Public Act 436 took effect.

The new emergency manager law restored Roberts’ full authority over the district, including terminating personnel in positions of academic authority.

A lower court had ruled that under Public Act 72, the state’s prior EM law, Roberts had financial power and Telford — who was appointed by the school board — had academic power.

When Roberts fired Telford, he reappointed Karen Ridgeway, who had been demoted by the board in February after a judge ruled P.A. 72 required the EM to share power with the board.

You can listen to Tony Trupiano’s two-part interview with Telford from last night here:

Pontiac Mayor and City Council get their paychecks back while Flint Emergency Manager Kurtz ends pay for Mayor Dayne Walling and entire City Council

Earlier this month, Pontiac EM Lou Schimmel restored wages to the Mayor and City Council. In Flint, however, Ed Kurtz reversed a decision by former EM Mike Brown and once again took away the paychecks of Mayor Dayne Walling and the Flint City Council:

Flint City Council members and Mayor Dayne Wallling aren’t getting paid – again.

When the state’s new emergency financial manger law took effect March 28, the salaries and benefits of elected officials were automatically eliminated where the state has appointed an emergency manager.

Flint emergency manager Ed Kurtz said he plans to meet with the Flint City Council within the next couple of weeks to talk about giving the council and mayor their pay back.

Flint’s nine-member council and Walling had their pay partially restored December 2011 by former emergency manager Mike Brown after he previously eliminated their pay.

Walling was making $55,080 a year, plus his fringe benefits. Council’s pay was $7,000 per year with no benefits.

Highland Parks Schools Emergency Manager rescinds diplomas for 18 students

In an unprecedented move, Highland Parks EM Donald Weatherspoon rescinded the diplomas of 18 students who were awarded credits for classes they did not pass:

The state-appointed emergency manager for Highland Park’s public schools has revoked diplomas awarded last year to 18 students.

MLive reported Friday that a review of transcripts determined the students were given credit for failed classes or didn’t have enough credit hours to graduate.

Emergency manager Donald Weatherspoon says the students in the academically and financially struggling Detroit area district were “misled” by school officials.

Weatherspoon also is manager of Muskegon Heights Public Schools in West Michigan.

He says he is seeking funding for a plan to allow students who graduated from Muskegon Heights High School as long as six years ago to receive free online learning. Weatherspoon says he believes the students received an inadequate education.

Weatherspoon is also offering free online classes for students who graduated from Muskegon Heights schools in the past six years because of the inferior education they received:

People who graduated from Muskegon Heights High School as many as six years ago would receive free online learning under the emergency manager’s plan to address what he perceives as an inadequate education that was provided to them. {…}

Testing of Muskegon Heights High School students found the vast majority – including 92 percent of ninth-graders – began the school year at least three grades behind in math and reading. That prompted Weatherspoon to explore what can be done for those who have graduated from the district as well as those yet to graduate.

He calls it a “plus six, minus six” approach. That means that people who graduated as many as six years ago or who will graduate as many as six years from now would be entitled to the free educational support. Weatherspoon is trying to find a way to fund the program he said is “still in a concept stage,” and is exploring state job training money.

Weatherspoon said he does not anticipate rescinding diplomas in Muskegon Heights, where he said there is confusion over whether 17 or 21 credits were required to graduate.

It was actually a newsflash to me that the same person is the EM for two school districts.

Sometimes not “everything” should be on the table

In a recent interview prior to assuming his new position as the Emergency Manager of Detroit, Kevyn Orr said that “everything is on the table” with regard to solving Detroit’s financial problem. Not only that, he specifically said that “everything is on the table” with regard to the future of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department. This could include, according to Orr, sale or privatization of the department.

Everything’s on the table. The reality is, my operating assumption, you know, is sort of like a physician’s creed ‘do no harm’. But my operating assumption is a little different: is there a net benefit to the city and its residents? Water and Sewer, for instance. It enjoys a higher bond rating than the city, operates on its own, has a net positive cash flow, and provides services in a relatively good level. But, you know, if you look at it, if you’re able to do a structure where either through a regional authority or privatization, it flows cash positive to city, $50 million with a 10 percent cap rate, is half a billion dollars. So, we’re going to have to look at that… Everything—asset leasing, sale/leaseback, privatization, 99-year leases with a reversion to the city—everything’s on the table.

Selling or leasing the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department would be a HUGE mistake.

There is no question that the Water and Sewerage Department has a long history of mismanagement and corruption. They only recently came out from underneath the oversight of a federal court judge stemming from corruption and failure to comply with environmental regulations.

Last summer, a month-long audit of the department revealed that it is grossly over-staffed with too many job classifications that make it highly inefficient. This kind of thing makes the situation ripe for the types of criticisms that labor unions so often hear about protecting jobs and workers at the expense of customers and service and what Detroit Free Press editor Stephen Henderson termed “featherbedding”.

At a time when Detroit is facing a catastrophic financial crisis, there is simply no room for a profitable entity like the Water & Sewerage Department to be wasteful.

However, the need to make that department efficient is absolutely no excuse for selling it or privatizing it, something conservative groups like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has been advocating for since 2000 (articles HERE and HERE, for example.) In fact, selling or divestiture of the department would, in the long term, have the opposite impact than the one privatization advocates say it would have: it would place an even bigger financial burden on the city in the future and would not, as the Mackinac Center would have you believe, lead to lower water bills for customers.

The non-profit Food & Water Watch released a report (pdf) this past week that outlines in great detail the myriad reasons for not privatizing Detroit’s Water & Sewerage Department. As Tia Lebherz, a Detroit-based organizer for Food & Water Watch put it, “Privatizing Detroit’s water and sewer system will do nothing to alleviate the city’s financial problems. Doing so would amount to a one-shot ploy to obscure larger money woes, and would ultimately come back to haunt residents in the form of higher bills.”

Her group’s report covers several major areas:

Privatization arrangements are actually just very expensive loans

The report explains that a defining characteristic of privatization schemes is that they offer a big up-front payment from the business taking over the system. This dangling carrot is often enough to persuade cities in crisis mode to leap for it. Unfortunately, after they have leaped, they find out that they are actually in a worse financial position afterwards than they were before:

The government’s primary objective in these privatization arrangements is to obtain a sizable up front payment from the company or consortium that takes over the water or sewer system, often as a desperate response to a fiscal crisis. As a consequence, governments usually award contracts to the bidder that offers them the most money, instead of selecting the highest-quality or least-expensive option for households and local businesses.

This money is not free; rather, it should be thought of as a loan. Residents and local businesses will have to repay it, with interest, through their water bills. In a 1997 report about wastewater privatization, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said as much: “In summary, any payments a local government receives from the sale or lease of a wastewater infrastructure asset represent a loan from the buyer or lessee which must be repaid with interest by the wastewater users in the form of additional user fees.”

Future improvements come with an elevated price tag under privatization

Part of the problem is that, if the municipality sells the water system, future improvements will be financed at much higher interest rates than government itself can get. Who pays for this higher financing costs? The water customers, of course. Not to mention the profit the company expects to get. So, not only are customers not going to see a decrease in their water bill, they will likely see an increase above and beyond what they normally would see if the services were provided by their (not for profit) city government. In fact, the report cites the statistic that “after purchasing a municipal water or sewer system, investor-owned utilities typically increase household rates by 18 percent every other year.”

The report quotes George Marlin, director of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority in his fight against privatization:

As for the County’s so-called ‘Debt-Reduction Plan,’ in my 35 years as an investment banker, I have never come across such an ill-conceived plan. … The County expects to select a private investor who will finance $850 million to pay down existing low interest cost tax-exempt sewer debt and County debt. This is a form of backdoor borrowing. … To use such costly funds to pay down low interest tax-exempt County and sewer debt makes no sense. This would be like drawing down the credit line on one’s VISA card at 15 percent interest per year to pay down one’s home mortgage which has a 4 percent annual interest rate. Sheer folly!

This is simply a way to raise taxes without directly raising taxes

When you take the 10,000 foot view of privatization schemes like those promoted by the Mackinac Center, they are simply a way to raise taxes in an indirect way that is essentially a fake-out to taxpayers and customers. The taxpaying citizens don’t see a direct increase in their tax bills and they may even be told that their water rate increases will be limited to some amount relative to inflation, for example. However, this doesn’t stop the new for-profit entity running the system from raising water bills in other ways:

Some government officials use water privatization as a way to transfer revenue from water rates to fund general government. This circumvents legal limitations on taxes and public protections for taxpayers, and can increase the financial burden on residents who are less well-off. {…}

[W]ater rates are user fees, not taxes. According to Hugh Spitzer, an affiliate professor at the University of Washington School of Law, “From a legal standpoint, these various user charges [user fees] are distinctly different from taxes — different both in terms of who bears the burdens and benefits and in terms of the distinct legal protections surrounding and regulating the use of those charges.”

In the Florida Law Review, Laurie Reynolds explained that a user fee is supposed to “correspond to the cost of the governmental activity being funded rather than reflect a general government desire to raise revenue.” Charging user fees that are higher than the cost of service to fund other government purposes may be considered an unconstitutional taking or impermissible tax in some states, including Michigan and Washington. Courts in other states, however, have sanctioned the practice, and thus, as Reynolds observed, “…provide a convenient way for local governments to raise general revenues without having to worry about anti-tax strictures.”

Some local officials seem to view water privatization as a way to avoid popular anti-tax sentiment. Spitzer noted, however, “… if an imposition is made to raise money for general public purposes, it is a tax.” Thus, water rateincreases that accompany privatization deals should be considered a “wolfish tax which is cloaked in the garb of a sheepish fee,” as a West Virginia state supreme court justice once called a fire service protection fee.

The report lists other issues such as inadequate protections for water consumers and taxpayers in the negotiating process and the lack of cost savings promised by privatization proponents. It’s not surprising, of course. Any time there is a profit to be made, you can be sure that corners will be cut, costs will be shifted and risks will be minimized for the profit taker at every juncture. For these reasons, privatization of something as critical as the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department is a huge mistake.

Food & Water Watch made specific recommendations in this regard:

Food & Water Watch recommends that Kevyn Orr reject the idea of privatizing Detroit’s local water and sewer systems, as doing so will not provide a real, sustainable and responsible solution for the city’s financial shortfall. Policymakers should grant the public access to all information regarding potential privatization contracts, encourage public input and require a referendum on any proposed lease, concession or sale of a public drinking or wastewater system.

As I said at the beginning, the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department has some clear issues. However, these issues can be fixed and do not require the privatization or selling off of this crucial public asset in order to do so. That is simply the excuse that corporatist types like Mackinac Center have been using for years to help enrich their business pals. It’s time for Kevyn Orr to take this specific thing “off the table”. It should never have been put there in the first place.

UPDATE: I was reminded on my Facebook page by Susan Dailey that privatization of public water systems has not worked out in Michigan in the past very well at all. Here’s my piece on the Pontiac situation: “EXCLUSIVE: The cost of privatization – Pontiac has water contamination issues under United Water”

Roy Roberts may be a convincing liar but he is still a liar

Michigan’s experiment with Emergency Managers has begun to catch national attention, thanks largely to the efforts of Rachel Maddow and her staff. One of the things that has become quite clear from the things I have written about here and the terrific reporting by The Rachel Maddow Show is that, despite the fact that our state is relying on budget-cutting Emergency Managers to solve problems that are complex and multi-faceted, they have yet to show that they actually WORK. Simply stated, outside of one tiny village, there has yet to be a city or school district that has emerged out from under and Emergency Financial Manager or an Emergency Manager and remained financially stable.

The Detroit Public Schools has been under the control of an Emergency Manager or Emergency Financial Manager for many years. The first Emergency Financial Manager, Robert Bobb, actually left the school district in a bigger financial hole than when he arrived. He was replaced by Governor Snyder by an auto industry marketing and sales guy, Roy Roberts. With Public Act 436 kicking in this past week, the law which thwarts the will of Michigan voters who struck down the previous Emergency Manager Law in last fall’s election, Roberts now has complete control over the school’s academic program once again (he had it for over a year then lost it after the November election.)

Roberts is very proud of his work and went on national television to tell the world that the Detroit Public Schools are back and, not only are they back, they are kicking some serious academic ass, surpassing the state average MEAP scores in a majority of categories. Here he is on NBC’s Education Nation Detroit Summit last week:

ROBERTS: But the key is, the academic side that you talked about, this past year on the state testing MEAP test, every grade in the Detroit Public Schools increased and improved and, in 14 out of 18, did better than the state average. That’s what it’s all about.

HOST: That deserves applause.

Holy cow! This is terrific news! Finally — FINALLY! — an Emergency Manager success story! It’s what we’ve all been waiting for!

Unfortunately, it’s probably best NOT to get excited. Why?

It turns out that it’s complete bullshit. Dr. Thomas Pedroni at the Detroit Data and Democracy Project blog analyzed the test scores for the Detroit Public Schools, both with the EAA schools included and without them. What he found is that, simply put, Roy Roberts is lying. Boldly lying you might say. Detroit Public Schools are not outperforming the state average in 14 out of 18 categories. In fact, by and large, they aren’t even making gains:

Given all the recent bad news in Detroit, Roberts might be forgiven if his facts were a bit off the mark. It turns out, according to the Michigan Department of Education, that DPS did not outshine the state in 14 of 18 MEAP categories. The actual number was somewhat lower —- zero. DPS trailed the Michigan average in proficiency in all 18 categories. And not just by a bit—by more than 10 percentage points in the two science categories, and by 20 or more in the other 16. But it was a happy moment at the summit. No one—not one panelist, not one moderator, not one preselected member of the audience—raised an eyebrow over Roberts’ innovative facts.

Perhaps Roberts had merely stumbled over his own words. Maybe he really meant to say that DPS schools were gaining ground on the Michigan averages -— that yes, DPS was still behind, but was steadfastly narrowing the achievement gap in 14 of the 18 categories.

Unfortunately, that’s not the story the MEAP numbers tell either.

Instead they show that the Detroit Public Schools have fallen even further behind the state average since gaining an Emergency Manager in 2009. The picture the numbers paint is particularly bleak when the 15 schools handed to the EAA just before the fall MEAP administration are factored in. They show that Detroit’s third through eighth graders continue to lose ground in reading and math proficiency in most categories.

The hardest hit have been our youngest test takers—those who have spent most of their school years under emergency management—our third, fourth, and fifth graders. Although Detroit students scored among the worst in the nation in 2009, Detroit’s third graders have since fallen 5.3 percentage points farther behind the state average in reading proficiency. In math, they have fallen another 5.1 percentage points below the state average.

I’m not sure how Roy Roberts gets off making blatantly false statements and then enjoying the applause from the audience as if he somehow deserved it. What’s worse is that our state media is giving him a complete pass on this. Perhaps it’s because they got scooped by a blogger. Dr. Pedroni offered this to the Detroit Free Press but, after many machinations, they turned him down. Here is his description of what happened and I find it shameful:

This column was submitted for consideration to the Detroit Free Press on Monday, March 25. The column was accepted, and slated to run online beginning Tuesday morning. However, on Tuesday afternoon I received a call from the paper’s editorial desk that more time was needed to go over the column. I had already emailed the editorial office links to the Education Nation Detroit Summit video with the times at which the pronouncements by Roberts (at 25:39) and [Chelsea] Clinton (at 43:00) were made. I had also emailed a link to the MDE site where the relevant MEAP data is stored, and shared my Excel Worksheets on which I had done the calculations underlying the analysis. The Free Press staffer and I carefully went over on the phone all the numbers and how they were derived. She thanked me for my time and care. The column was again cleared for publication, this time for Wednesday at noon. Just before noon I received another communication from the Free Press— that if they ran a piece accusing Roberts of lying, then the paper at least needed to check with him on what he intended to say. I pointed out that the column did not accuse Roberts of lying, but merely used data to analyze his claim. Later Wednesday afternoon I received a final email, that based on Roberts’ response, there was too much that would need to be changed in the column, and that I was welcome to take it elsewhere.

It’s bad enough that a state-appointed czar with complete control over the largest school district in the state boldly lies in public about success that he has, in fact, not achieved. It’s even worse when our state media is complicit in the lie by refusing to report on it.

I have been saying for some time that the demise of legitimate journalism in our country is leading the collapse of democracy, a collapse that I would argue is epitomized by Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. The fact that one of the top media outlets in the state chose to turn a blind eye to the story is the clearest example I have seen yet about how they are failing us and leading to a loss of democracy in Michigan. Make no mistake: we NEED solutions to the problems our failing schools and cities face. What we also need is an honest accounting of whether or not our efforts are working so that, if they are not — and they decidedly ARE NOT at this point — we can make changes and move on to solutions that DO work. I would suggest that newspapers like the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press start asking the hard questions and demanding that our state begin reinvesting in Detroit, its schools, and all of the other cities and districts that are being run by Emergency Managers. Because continuing to do the same things that aren’t working over and over again is not going to produce different results, no matter how much cheerleading they do.

[Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog]