Category: Detroit Public Schools

Defunding the police in Detroit schools: A youth perspective

Defunding the police in Detroit schools: A youth perspective

The following essay was written by students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. At a time when the Overton Window view about the role of policing in our society is shifting ever more to the left, their voice is important and deserves to be heard. Organized by the group 482Forward which is working for a quality education for EVERY […]

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Evidence mounts that Emergency Management in Michigan was and IS a complete failure

Evidence mounts that Emergency Management in Michigan was and IS a complete failure

A couple of years ago, I wrote this: I have been saying for years (since 2011, precisely) that Emergency Management is a model that will not work to solve the intractable problems that have led to financial crises in our state’s former urban manufacturing hubs. Emergency Managers are armed only with tools of DEstruction, not with tools of CONstruction. They […]

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Betsy DeVos and the Koch brothers must be so proud: Michigan teacher salaries down 16% from 2009

Betsy DeVos and the Koch brothers must be so proud: Michigan teacher salaries down 16% from 2009

It’s taken years of concerted effort but, at long last, Betsy DeVos and the Koch brothers can finally claim victory: Teachers in Michigan are now paid less today in both real and corrected-for-inflations dollars. In 2009, the average teacher salary in our state was $63,025. In 2017, the most recent year for which we have data, the average was only […]

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Photo credit: @Coopmike48, Loyal Public Education Supporter

The Stunning Hypocrisy of Betsy DeVos: Class Size Edition

In light of Betsy DeVos’ comments on the benefits of large class sizes and hiring fewer teachers – “In fact, students may be better served by being in larger classes, if by hiring fewer teachers, a district or state can better compensate those who have demonstrated high ability and outstanding results…” – I wanted to share the following statistics from […]

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Our Public Schools Aren’t Failing; We’re Failing Our Public Schools

Our Public Schools Aren’t Failing; We’re Failing Our Public Schools

I’ve noticed an uptick lately in the number of folks talking about school choice, charter schools, and competition. I’m guessing this is a by-product of the recent swing in public opinion against charter schools, and the attendant backlash against 2020 presidential candidate and big charter school cheerleader, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. The conversation around charters and choice, however, like […]

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If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Lie: The Trump/DeVos Doctrine of Redefinition

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Lie: The Trump/DeVos Doctrine of Redefinition

Trump and his Republican enablers, like Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, are beginning to realize that they have approximately zero chance of ever winning another election–if held and run fairly–on the issues, so they are scrambling frantically to redefine these issues in a clumsy and desperate effort to confuse and distract voters. Here are just 2 examples; one from national […]

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Austerity STILL being imposed on Detroit schools, teachers’ list of classroom supplies tragically inadequate as the school year begins

Austerity STILL being imposed on Detroit schools, teachers’ list of classroom supplies tragically inadequate as the school year begins

As classes began this week in the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), teachers learned they are beginning the year with the sort of austerity and inadequate supplies that has become the tragic hallmark of this neglected school system. A teacher at one of the high schools in the DPSCD sent me an email received by all of the teachers […]

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An “Achievement School District” Primer, Or Why Charterizing Your School District is a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea

An “Achievement School District” Primer, Or Why Charterizing Your School District is a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea

“Achievement School Districts” are a recent phenomenon in the corporate education reform movement. These “school districts” are designed to guarantee “rapid improvement in the state’s low performing schools”, although specific methods, techniques and strategies to accomplish this goal are rarely mentioned. ASDs have sprung up all across the nation, under various names and guises, from the “Education Achievement Authority” in […]

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A Simple Solution to Fix the Problem of our Failing Public Education System

A Simple Solution to Fix the Problem of our Failing Public Education System

Let me begin with an apology: I have intentionally lured you here under false pretenses. What do I mean? I’ve used that favorite strategy of internet hoaxes and supermarket tabloids, the “click bait headline”, to catch your eye, whet your appetite, and influence you to “click” the link, which brought you here. According to Wikipedia, “click bait headlines” rely on […]

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The sinister motive behind Trump & DeVos’ plan to “harden schools”

The sinister motive behind Trump & DeVos’ plan to “harden schools”

The news has been full of reports over the last few weeks on the need to “harden” our schools in response to the seemingly daily onslaught of school shootings in our nation. Many of our elected officials, such as President* Donald Trump and Secretary of Education* Betsy DeVos, have called for teachers and other school personnel to be given firearms […]

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The Educational Malpractice of Ms. Moskowitz

Elizabeth Green, the founder of “Chalkbeat,” an online education site, is out with a fawning, sycophantic puff piece on Eva Moskowitz, the leader of the Success Academy network of charter schools in New York City. Some of my favorite edubloggers have already responded with their thoughts (Peter Greene, aka Curmudgication; Mercedes Schneider here), so I’ll make my comments on this […]

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