Large group of Detroit teachers protest outside Cobo Center
At least five public schools in Detroit will be closed on Wednesday, and many others could follow suit, as teachers call in sick to protest at deteriorating conditions, Detroit Public Schools said.
More than 20 additional schools closed Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 80 schools.
“If they are getting pay cuts, and don’t have what they need in the classrooms, the only way for them to be heard is to take a stand”, said Tanisha Murray, whose daughter attends a closed foreign language immersion and cultural studies school.
“Closing schools for reasons such as today and on previous dates further jeopardizes the limited resources the District has available to educate its students and address the many challenges it faces”, she said.
Steve Conn, a former leader of the teachers union and now head of the Detroit Strike to Win Committee, tells the Free Press teachers plan to shut down schools again on Thursday.
The motion names the Detroit Federation of Teachers, interim teachers union president Ivy Bailey and 23 Detroit Public Schools teachers.
The district says it has no choice but to close schools when teachers don’t report to work.
The state-appointed emergency manager for Detroit’s public schools says a sick-out by teachers caused almost 45,000 students to miss classes.
“As the city celebrates this “ultra-luxury” automobile event, Detroit’s public schools are in a state of crisis”, wrote the union on its website.
Several dozen people marched in front of Detroit’s convention center Wednesday afternoon, as marchers hoped to be on hand when President Barack Obama’s motorcade arrived at the Cobo Center convention hall, where the president was touring the North American International Auto Show.
Detroit’s local economy has come back from the brink, but the schools have reached a breaking point.
The school system posted a message on its Facebook page saying all public schools would be open Thursday. “It’s time for all of us to work together to ensure that there will be a school system in Detroit for future generations of the city’s children”. The teachers direct much of their blame towards Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who has placed Detroit under the control of an emergency financial manager in an effort to put its fiscal house in order.
Earley has said he was not responsible for the decision, only for implementing it after it was approved.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan called for teachers to stop staging sick-outs and return to their classrooms while legislatures work on solving the city’s debt problems.
“(The) time to act is now”, he told lawmakers. The district is $515 million in the red. Goeff Hansen, author of the proposal. Snyder said $1,100 per student is spent, not on books or building repairs, but rather financing the enormous debt. Under the current system, funding could run out by April. In response, city officials have started inspecting schools for any code and safety violations. “Teachers are fed up and have had enough”.