Court denies DPS request for temporary restraining order against teachers

Wendell called for legislators to immediately fund the schools and replace Emergency Manager Darnell Early. And so there was an 18-month time limit put on their terms. Majority have called in sick prompting the shut down of schools.

Most of Detroit’s public schools closed for the day on Wednesday due to teacher absences, as disgruntled educators stepped up efforts to protest the governor’s plans for the district, its ramshackle finances and dilapidated buildings. Ivy Bailey, the interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, slammed the filing of the lawsuit in a statement Thursday.

Detroit Public Schools responded to Wednesday’s sickout by taking to the courts to stop further sickouts.

One rationale given by some Detroit teachers who have engaged in illegal strikes in the past several weeks is that they were protesting deplorable conditions in the schools. “Other damages cited include students deprived of their school breakfasts and lunches, parents forced to miss work, nonstriking DPS employees forced to miss work and waste of taxpayer money”, The Detroit Free Press said.

District spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski gave the update about Thursday’s classes.

The ceiling is crumbling in this room at Ron Brown Academy, an elementary school in Detroit.

“But we do not support rogue teachers’ groups out there”, he said. “However, students need to be in the classroom learning”.

“The power is with the people, the students, the teachers, and we will not be silent”. “We realized that nobody is coming to save us, so we have to save ourselves”.

The claims of poorly maintained schools have triggered media reports that students have to wear jackets in class because the heat doesn’t work, along with allegations of black mold contamination and a general state of disrepair.

Last week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan described what he saw after touring just four schools: “There were some schools that were very well maintained”.

But while everyone seems to agree that something needs to be done to fix Michigan’s largest school district, it’s not clear what that something will look like yet. He has pushed state lawmakers to pass bills to overhaul the school district by splitting it in two, spending more than $700 million over a decade, and warned of a potential bankruptcy. The bureaucratic labyrinth and lack of clear leadership reflects the complexity of a district which has been under state management for years, has a growing financial problem and little clear direction for a solution. The schools now are run under state oversight.