“Some building were well-maintained and some were deeply disturbing and I plan to look at a few more today”.
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The district reported at least 22 closings Tuesday, compared to more than 60 Monday. He said he will meet with building and safety officials to develop a plan to address the district as a whole by Wednesday.
Many Detroit schools are closed again because of an absence of teachers, although the number has dropped.
Although absent teachers are protesting those working conditions and benefit cuts, they also have complaints about the city’s ongoing struggle to manage the district’s debt, which has led Gov. Rick Snyder to propose splitting the district in two: one system to actually run the schools, and another to pay off over $500 million in debt. “We know there’s an issue with money, but you know what? The priority is to always have a safe learning environment”. Over a month ago, three schools in Detroit were closed after teachers called in sick with an ailment they call “Snyder flu”.
Duggan visited the schools with city inspectors. “The children of Detroit, Flint or any other community should not be exposed to atrocious, environmental hazards”. Sickouts are “a blatant attempt to circumvent the law barring the DFT from walking away from their responsibilities and striking”, MI state Rep. Tim Kelly said. “We have classes where there is no coverage for the students, there are no teachers there because we have a teacher shortage”.
“This is why those sick-outs happened”, she told reporters, adding that classes have too many students and rodents are plentiful.
“Lansing has got to deal with this issue with some urgency”, Duggan said.
“There are schools that average on age of 47 years old”. The district serves about 46,000 students in 100 schools.
But that would mean cutting other districts’ budgets, likely leading to staff cuts, unless the legislature agrees to dedicate more money to education overall.
DPS emergency manager Darnell Earley said in a statement Sunday that it’s clear teachers are frustrated over the challenges they face every day.
“He’s been doing a good job”.
“It’s a turning point for Detroit – the stigma on urban education that has to end. I’m not sure why people would want to go out and protest against a solution like that”.
Interim President Ivy Bailey displayed photos of mold in schools.
Among the teachers participating: Theresa Williams, a first-grade teacher at Burton International Academy, who held a sign that said, “I have 39 first-graders in my classroom”.
Official strikes by public employees are illegal in MI, and the DFT does not support the January 11 sickouts. “It shouldn’t have come to this”.
He said it was “heartbreaking” to see some kids wearing coats in the morning until classrooms warm up by lunch.
A teacher and former union president, Steve Conn, said the shutdowns were “great”.
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Last week, Earley said he was researching the legality of the teachers action. “The mayor’s real concern is that if the teachers do strike, the people of Detroit will be on our side”.
