Michigan Legislature OKs $617M bailout for Detroit schools

The bills now head to Gov. Rick Snyder for his expected signature. More than 50 of Detroit’s schools, which serve approximately 46,000 students, were closed because of the protests. They are favored by school-choice proponents and Republicans but opposed by teachers unions and Democrats.

MI lawmakers have approved a $617 million bailout of Detroit’s debt-ridden school district.

And while many may not understand the nuts and bolts behind the agreement, they know a succeeding Detroit will lead to a succeeding MI. Snyder has cited the plan’s “huge positives”, saying the new district would have no debt and a locally elected board instead of state-appointed emergency managers who have been running the district for seven years. Detroit Free Press editorial page editor, Stephen Henderson, a Pulitzer Prize victor, called for the drowning of the legislators who passed the House bill, which he described as “garbage” in an op-ed piece Saturday.

Education officials say the $617 million plan to fix Detroit’s ailing school system will affect tax payers across the state.

The Senate, which passed a bipartisan proposal in March, was considering a plan OK’d by House Republicans last week and that has been backed by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof as a compromise.

Republican lawmakers contended the final $617 million bailout legislation would prevent DPS from filing for municipal bankruptcy even though Rhodes, a former federal bankruptcy judge, has said such a move would be ineffective because much of the district’s debt is guaranteed by the state. This has created a situation that some education professionals call the “Wild wild West of chartering”, says Martin. An additional $150 million would be used to start a new district, which would be responsible for educating children.

“If you do this, you are systematically spelling the end of the Detroit Public Schools system”, he said.

Yet many are optimistic. Without the burden of debt, the public schools will be able to put more money towards improving existing problems.

One important component of Detroit’s rebuilding is the institution of elections for a citywide school board.

“You cowards! You damn cowards to even take up this legislation before us and our community and not even have one Detroiter in the room to help to negotiate this”, said Sen. Teachers staged a series of sickouts in the school year, shutting down schools to draw attention to the condition of Detroit’s crumbling school buildings and to the prospect that – because of the district’s financial crisis – teachers might not be paid for their work.

Some Republicans were reluctant to offer taxpayer support to the state’s largest school district that for decades has grappled with mismanagement and corruption, while others joined with Democrats in contending the deal failed to include a commission to regulate the opening of new schools, including charters that have drawn students away from traditional neighborhood schools crucial to city’s long-term revival.