Detroit: Fire ‘Em All & Let God Sort It Out Later
Over 4,100 Detroit Public Schools teachers received layoff notices this month, according to the Detroit affiliate of NPR. They will each have to reapply next month in order to have a chance at a job in the district next year. Furthermore, new state law now prohibits Michigan school districts from rehiring or laying off teachers based solely on seniority. In Detroit, the decision will be based on evaluations.
Such mass firings are not uncommon in school districts and have become even more prevalent with the budget crises of the past few years. Ed Codes generally require districts to send out pink slips toward the end of spring semester, even though revenues are uncertain until the following fall. Thus, school districts typically send out far more layoff notices than necessary and have to scramble to rehire some of the laid off teachers in the fall.
Detroit Public Schools (DPS) has the added problem of declining enrollment due to a shrinking city population and growing number of charter schools. Despite these factors, DPS still saw an enrollment spike last September, forcing the district to hire back all but 400 teachers and will likely face a similar scenario this coming fall.
Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) President Keith Johnson said "they are doing this again like they did last year and it's going to be chaos again in September... I'm preparing for battle." Of course, coming from Johnson, who has repeatedly maintained a collaborationist relationship with DPS (see here, here and here), Detroit teachers should be very nervous. Johnson’s approach to battle will likely involve some gentle pleading and followed by concessions that will trade pink slips for increased class sizes, longer working hours, and wage and benefits cuts.
Modern School
http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2012/04/detroit-fire-em-all-let-god-sort-it-out.html
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I lived my first 30-some years in the city.
I am sad to see my home town suffer this slow, protracted death. I remember taking street cars to the downtown J. L. Hudson store, and the crazy acceleration of the elevators (each operated by a woman, often a black women) as my mother would take my sisters and I to the restaurant on the 21st floor.
That building is gone now, as is beautiful Tiger Stadium, which in my youth was known as Briggs Stadium. I took the bus there on multiple Saturdays to see Tiger greats like Dick Brown, Frank Lary, Don Mossi, and of course, Al Kaline.
We made jokes in the late fifties through the early sixties when Detroit was building expressways all over the city. They city government called it urban renewal. We called it urban removal. I could never have imagined at that time the extent to which my hometown would experience precisely that problem.
I am sad for the home town which I grew up in. I am sad for the people who are fighting the noble battles, looking at a city which is on life support. The Detroit of my youth was a wonderful place to live. I am sure that there are many visionaries still living there who see a renaissance in the city's future.
But over a million people have left a city of just under two million. A mere 700,000 plus souls remain. What does a formerly vibrant city do when the infrastructure for two million is supported by a tax base of 40%, many of whom are in poverty?
I know what it is like to see a city die.
