Detroit Schools board sues Robert Bobb over private compensation

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

The Detroit Public School Board unanimously voted Monday night to file a second lawsuit against Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, saying $145,000 in private foundation support he receives under his new contract is unlawful. "It's a conflict of interest," said DPS board member LaMar Lemmons.

Bobb's supplemental income from private foundations increased from $84,000 last year to $145,000 this year, under a one-year contract extension signed by the governor and state superintendent this month. The only philanthropic donor publicly identified is the Broad Foundation, whose support of charter schools has stirred controversy among some members of the DPS community.


"This is more than putting the fox in charge of the hen house, it's serving up the hens to be eaten by this guy," said George Washington, an attorney representing the teachers and community activist groups who have spearheaded the lawsuit and who urged the board Monday to join them.

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The Broad Foundation believes Bobb, a 2005 graduate of its superintendents training program, is the greatest hope for Detroit in transforming education, and the foundation wanted to invest in him to stay here. Any decisions about DPS are up to him, the community and the governor, a spokeswoman there said.