A major sick-out shut down most of Detroit’s schools Wednesday as teachers tried to call attention to the city’s public school problems.
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An attorney for the Detroit Public Schools has asked a judge to issue a restraining order and preliminary injunction to force teachers to stop sickouts and return to work, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The sickouts mean that most of the district’s 46,000 schoolchildren will be forced to stay home.
School district spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski sent an update about Thursday’s classes in an email to The Associated Press. “… We demand real answers and fully funded schools”.
The number of schools closed Wednesday indicates that more teachers are joining the sick-outs.
Besides the burden placed on Detroit parents by forcing them to care for students unable to go to school, it’s unclear how much damage the closures are actually causing.
Mr Obama is attending the North American International Auto Show to highlight the resurgence of the city’s vehicle industry. The schools are a separate unit of government that wasn’t included in the city’s reorganization.
“We’re having huge success, we are finally getting at least some attention to the problem we are going to have to continue on with the strike, if we are going to get real solutions by the governor – which really is to give us back our schools – no more emergency manager now”, said Conn. Duggan’s school tour was precipitated by an earlier teacher sickout that closed 64 schools.
And last week, Duggan ordered inspections of all the city’s public schools.
The district needs what amounts to a rescue package from Lansing soon.
Detroit Public Schools, which are under state oversight, have seen declining enrollment as the city’s population decreased and heavy pension and debt obligations that have left the district in danger of running out of cash in April.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, encouraged lawmakers on Tuesday night to pass bills overhauling the school system by spending more than $700 million over the course of a decade and by splitting the district into two.
“It is regrettable that the Detroit Public Schools seeks to punish those who speak out about the deplorable conditions in our schools”, interim teacher’s union president Ivy Bailey said.
The sickouts are in response to poor building conditions, large class sizes and supply shortages, among other issues, teachers and union officials have said. “The whole next generation relies on it”, Cass Tech teacher and activist Steve Conn told CBS affiliate WWJ. “They’ve known we’ve been in crisis for a long time, and they haven’t done anything”. It said those who don’t call in sick still were required to report to their buildings Wednesday.
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“Some rooms are so hot because of faulty furnace systems that students can’t think.” she said.
