The Michigan state House narrowly passed a bill to bail out Detroit Public Schools tonight.
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A statewide poll released this week shows that while the Legislature is hearing from Detroit stakeholders and the governor that they must bail out Detroit Public Schools and add new layers of oversight for all city schools, statewide voters aren’t thrilled.
But Republican Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter praised the legislation and said it will keep the schools open, avoid bankruptcy for the district and make sure teachers are paid.
The Michigan House may be poised to vote on compromise legislation to grant Detroit Public Schools a $617 million bailout.
Almost a third of 113,000 students living in the city attend a charter school in Detroit or surrounding areas, which has prompted criticism that they are being opened largely unchecked to the detriment of a district with too many schools in some areas and too few elsewhere.
When it comes to rescuing financially strapped school systems, state Republicans and Democrats continue to bump heads.
The main bill in the package passed by a razor-thin margin, 55 to 53 votes.
Snyder said Wednesday he still supports the proposed Detroit Education Commission but stressed there is common ground on paying down the massive debt and returning control to a school board.
State Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor, criticizes House Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan Senate plan that included the commission to control charter school proliferation in the city, the News reports.
Pscholka says the plan will retire $467 million of the district’s debt over about nine years.
“And even when you get charters in Detroit to stand up and say “We want a local standard”.
Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration, members of the state’s congressional delegation and others announced the “Protect and Grow” initiative on Thursday at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. He said $150 million is “probably the low end” of what is needed.
Duggan told the Detroit News that the proposed aid package would be a waste “unless there is a commission to help stabilize the district’s enrollment and finances”.
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The House plan faces its own hurdles to succeed in the state Senate, which has its own plan that differs in important ways.
