A majority of Detroit public schools were closed yesterday due to a coordinated “sickout” of teachers.
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“The district has asked the Michigan Court of Claims to stop the rolling protests that closed 88 Detroit schools Wednesday”.
The district named the Detroit Federation of Teachers’ union, activists and two dozen educators as defendants.
The state-appointed emergency manager for Detroit’s public schools says a sick-out by teachers caused almost 45,000 students to miss classes.
These so-called “sickouts” have consumed the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) over the past two weeks, forcing repeated closures, but Wednesday’s closures appear to be the worst yet, taking out roughly 90 percent of the city’s schools. Teachers are protesting low pay, the district’s poor finances, overcrowded classrooms and unsafe room conditions. The situation is so dire that, in the end, Detroit Public Schools found it easier to make a Facebook post listing the schools that were still open.
It also would allow hearings to be held for more than one teacher at a time, empower the state superintendent to revoke their teaching certificates and impose larger fines.
‘DPS has requested the court’s intervention in addressing the ongoing teacher sick outs that are plaguing the district, ‘ spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski said in a statement, adding: “There will be no further comment until we receive direction from the court'”.
Darnell Earley, the man who “emergency managed” the city of Flint, Michigan, into a new water system that has poisoned thousands of children, is now emergency managing the Detroit schools where threats to the health and safety of children and staff have been exposed. Speakers at a rally described the schools with such problems as “mold, leaky ceilings, busted windows, rodents, roaches, lack of heat and standing water”.
Earley called the sick-out “a publicity stunt” and said “sooner or later, the families who have been so adversely affected by these sick-outs will express their displeasure and voice their disdain of these actions”.
“It is regrettable that the Detroit Public Schools seeks to punish those who speak out about the deplorable conditions in our schools”, Bailey said. “It’s time for all of us to work together to ensure that there will be a school system in Detroit for future generations of the city’s children”.
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In his State of the State address Tuesday night, the governor called for money spent on debt service, close to $1,200 per student, to be shifted into classroom funding to give teachers what they need to do their jobs.
