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.
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”.
Click through for more.
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.
It’s all there after the jump. And there is a LOT there after the jump.
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.
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.
As it turns out, it was a complete lie. Click through for details.
Today Michigan, the birthplace of the labor movement, becomes the 24th Right to Work state in the USA. It’s also the day that PA 436, the Emergency Manager law Republicans passed to thwart the wishes of Michigan voters, goes into effect. PA 436 transforms all Emergency Financial Managers to Emergency Managers (EMs), giving them powers above and beyond financial matters as they are the sole rulers of the schools and municipalities over which they have complete power.
Much more after the jump.
Lots of news to cover today. Make sure you click through to the jump page if you’re reading this from the front page of Eclectablog.
Here is Michigan Forward’s statement:
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Lots of news to get to today. Lots more after the jump, too, so make sure you click through.
UPDATE: My article for The Nation magazine on Michigan’s Emergency Manager law will be in the issue that goes to print today and will hit the stands later this week. It may or may not be online unless you are a subscriber. I’ll keep everyone posted when it’s available.
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There aren’t too many people in Michigan more emphatic that we need to repeal Public Act 4 – Michigan’s Emergency Manager law – more than I am. But THIS is just an absurd waste of time.
The high court announced Wednesday it will consider an argument rejected in October by the Michigan Court of Appeals that Roberts’ appointment in May is invalid because he failed to take the oath of office until months later.
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There’s no debate over whether or not there are problems with the Detroit Public School system. It’s a decades-old problem made worse by a dwindling city population, higher-than-ever poverty levels and, in some cases, malfeasance, corruption and outright criminal activity by some. Although they are improving with respect to school attendance, Detroit still has big problems in that regard, too.
The Snyder administration has decided that the best way to solve that problem is simply to fine the school system, one that it already struggling due to reduced aid from the state and from lower revenues from its shrinking tax base, by fining them.…
This past week, John Covington was hired by the state of Michigan to oversee a collection of underperforming schools in the state. The new group, the Education Achievement Authority (EAA), will focus its efforts on improving failing schools around Michigan. In his new position, Covington may make as much as $1.5 million per year over 4 years if he meets goals set for him.
Covington comes to Michigan under a cloud of questions and accusations from the Kansas City school system. A Huffington Post column details a rift between Covington and the president of the Kansas City School Board, Airick West, which Covington to said was the reason he abruptly resigned.…
Unionized school employees in Detroit were dealt another blow today as Emergency Manager Roy Roberts wiped away their union contract and cut the wages by 10% across the board. This comes after Detroit Public School (DPS) employees accepted a major wage concession just a year and a half ago.
The move, announced by Roberts this morning at a meeting with leaders of eight unions representing nearly 10,000 employees, will save DPS $81 million dollars this year alone at a time when the district is struggling with a $327 million budget deficit.
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