The mass teacher absences forced DPS to shut 24 schools Tuesday and 64 on Monday.
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The problem with Snyder’s plan, Pedroni said, was that it relied on governing the school district with a board of appointees, not elected members. For example, at Vernor Elementary School, teachers tell Local 4 that actual mushrooms grow out of the walls in the schools.
But adding to recent tensions is a divide within the teacher’s union, which outed former president Steve Conn earlier this year and expelled him from the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT).
Detroit Public Schools admits that there are maintenance issues but Executive Director of Communications Michelle Zdrodowski said they’re doing what they can to fix them.
The teachers union, the Detroit Federation of Teachers, is not part of the sick-out, which teachers have undertaken to protest their pay and call for smaller class sizes, among other things.
“As frustrations by educators, parents and the community continue to mount over deep concerns about Detroit Public Schools’ deplorable health, safety and learning conditions, we need real answers from Emergency Manager Darnell Earley and Gov. Rick Snyder”.
There’s nothing normal in DPS schools these days, said teachers.
Detroit public schools officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Earley says that the teacher sick-outs are harming Detroit students. Others are sick of deplorable conditions of buildings, which also show signs of mold and have broken windows. “But there’s no question about the legitimacy of the issues that they’re raising”, the mayor said. “We have classes where there is no coverage for the students, there are no teachers there because we have a teacher shortage”.
“But to me, really all of those are inexcusable because what I think we see happening in the district in Detroit is really an indictment of the sort of heavy-handed power from the executive branch without any checks or balances”.
He said he understands the teachers’ frustrations but urged them to return to work.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he saw a dead mouse, cold children wearing coats in classrooms and a warped gym floor during a morning tour of some of the city’s public schools.
The district around 7 a.m. today updated its Facebook page to announce 38 additional schools closed because of a high number of teacher absences. However, given the reality of the District’s financial distress, it is becoming clearer every day that the only way that we are going to be able to address these serious issues in any way is through an investment in DPS by the Michigan Legislature.
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Official strikes by public employees are illegal in MI, and the DFT does not support the January 11 sickouts.
