Detroit Public Schools Closed Amid Teacher ‘Sick-Out’

Almost all public schools in Detroit were closed on Wednesday as teachers called in sick to protest conditions, the school system and teachers’ union said.

Industrial action is banned by MI law, and the educators have resorted to so-called sickouts to draw attention to the district’s crumbling schools. “They were dressed for school when we got the phone call that school was closed”.

It would create a second school district within the city that assumes control over all of its schools and students, while leaving the current Detroit Public Schools system with only the district’s debt, said Republican state Sen.

Obama will be in town to tout the resurgence of the US vehicle industry at the Detroit auto show. “[Earley] poisoned children in flint with the water, and [he poisons] children in Detroit with inadequate school buildings”.

Despite the school system’s officials trying to encourage teachers to stay in school for the students’ benefit these past couple weeks, teachers have spoken out publicly to say that enough is enough.

American Federation of Teachers Administrator for DFT Ann Mitchell and DFT interim president Ivy Bailey wrote on the DFT website Tuesday they know there’s a long way to go. The school district agreed to demands on staff meetings, sick leave accrual and a labor-management committee on curriculum, the teacher’s union said.

Winter wind cuts through some of the classrooms either because the windows are broken or because broken boilers force teachers to open windows to prevent temperatures from rising to 90 degrees, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Jackson, who is part of the organization DPS Teachers Fight Back, said that, in addition to hazardous health conditions at schools, the unstable budget has led to class sizes too large to foster quality learning.

In the last eight years the district has been run by four different state appointed emergency managers.

While the wrangling over how to solve the woes in Detroit continues, the video below, which takes us inside a school in the city, serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the real victims of the crisis: children. He also called for bipartisan support of Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan for Detroit schools, which would cost the state an estimated $715 million over 10 years.

Though Snyder did not directly address poor conditions in public schools in Detroit, Duggan spoke on the subject last week. After Detroit mayor Mike Duggan toured numerous schools, he ordered inspections of all of the district’s buildings.

As for the ongoing sick-outs, the mayor says teachers’ “frustrations are legitimate, but the solution is not to send the kids home”. The city has responded to these protests by sending officials to inspect schools for code violations.