Detroit teachers stage ‘sick-out’, schools forced to close

More than 50 schools in Detroit were closed Monday morning as teachers called in sick, a protest that heightens the district’s years-long debate about how to rescue its finances and struggling students.

Their pleas at a rally today received immediate responses.

“… Based on what we find, the City of Detroit will take whatever enforcement action is necessary to make sure all Detroit Public Schools are compliant with all health and building codes”.

“We’ve seen a couple of school buildings that are well-maintained and then saw some conditions that were deeply disturbing, including a school where the children have no gym class because the gym floor is buckled from roof leaks”, Duggan said. The district is run by an emergency manager appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.

The State’s Superintendent of Schools Brian Whiston, along with many other of the system’s officials, urged teachers to reconsider their method of protest, arguing they should be in classrooms teaching despite the valid “financial, academic, and structural” concerns they have. “The children of Detroit, Flint or any other community should not be exposed to atrocious, environmental hazards”.

Bailey is also calling on the state to hold hearings on the decrepit state of the district’s schools.

In the meantime, Duggan said that his tour of district facilities would examine whether current conditions in the schools may be in violation of city building and health codes. Ingrid Jacques, an editorial page editor at The Detroit News, has suggested that the legislature “consider a future for Detroit schools that doesn’t include the teachers union”.

Thousands of students have a free day in Detroit after teachers launched a sick-out that forced the closure of at least 60 schools. Pamela Namyslowski, who teaches 4th-grade at Mann Elementary School in Detroit, posted a lengthy open letter to DPS’s emergency manager Darnell Earley on Friday and by this morning, it had been shared more than 6,000 times.

And the teachers argue that keeping students home in their protest won’t hurt them anymore than they’ve already been hurt.

The Detroit district is Michigan’s largest and has been under continuous state oversight for almost seven years. We need to do something.

Teachers say students are already devastated by conditions in the district, which is facing financial calamity with liabilities of $3.5bn. Spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski said the number of kids affected Tuesday wasn’t immediately known. “The mayor even remarked about how attractive the classroom was and how the teacher was doing such a terrific job in such adverse conditions”.

Official strikes by public employees are illegal in MI, and the DFT does not support the January 11 sickouts.