Snyder unveils new plan for Detroit schools

Source: Education DIVE

On Monday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the details of a Detroit schools plan that he plans to bring before the state legislature this session. The plan includes $70 million a year over the next decade to cover the district’s $715 million operating deficit. Snyder’s plan would also replace the troubled Detroit Public Schools, which has been in and out of emergency management for over a decade.

The end of Detroit Public Schools as an educational institution would close out a year that has been among the most damning for the troubled school system and the city’s schools at large. Many of the city’s schools have been under the control of Michigan’s state takeover district, the Education Achievement Authority. That body, as well as Detroit Public Schools, has been the target of an FBI corruption probe looking at school and district administrators. Last week, one of the targets of the probe, former principal Kenyetta Wilbourn-Snapp, pled guilty to charges of tax evasion and of accepting a $58,000 bribe. More administrators and former administrators are likely to face scrutiny as the investigation progresses.

Meanwhile, both systems have struggled to improve, with fumbles and missteps at every stage of the process. District leaders in the EAA and DPS rolled out untested curriculum materials and spent millions on consultants. Several leaders have faced allegations of corruption in Detroit and elsewhere since, including former DPS schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who pled guilty to corruption charges in Chicago last week and is now facing scrutiny for Detroit contracts.

Snyder’s plan would establish an entirely new school district in Detroit, the Detroit Community School District. All schools, staff, and students would switch to the new system, leaving only the mountain of debt with Detroit Public Schools. The new district would be run at first by appointed officials before transitioning to an elected school board by 2021.

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