At least 60 schools in Detroit are closed this morning after a planned teacher sick-out, continuing a protest launched last week over general turmoil in the district. “Some building were well-maintained and some were deeply disturbing and I plan to look at a few more today”.
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Teachers in Detroit say the sick-out is prompted by poor working conditions caused by mismanaged state budgets, which ultimately hurts students.
Conditions in classrooms are “abominable”, said Steve Conn, a teacher and former president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers who was removed from office for alleged misconduct in August.
Michigan’s schools chief wants to meet with the state-appointed emergency manager for Detroit’s public schools to discuss health and safety concerns in district buildings.
Snyder has called for the state to commit $715 million over a decade to address the debt and relaunch the district under a new name.
Public school officials in Detroit are warning parents of possible closings due to “ongoing sick-outs” by teachers. “They told me they usually wear their coats until lunchtime, when they warm up a bit, which was heartbreaking, because there’s a part of each day they actually expect to have to wear their coats in the classroom”. Gov. Snyder’s bailout plan is stalled in the Legislature.
“Lansing has got to deal with this issue with some urgency”, Duggan said.
Detroit’s main teachers union, the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said on Sunday that it was not planning on calling an official strike vote.
“We, as teachers, know our students and what they need”. Spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski said the number of kids affected Tuesday wasn’t immediately known. “I encourage the teachers to end the sick-outs and remain in the schools, and I encourage our state officials to move quickly to address these pressing educational problems”.
“We’re investigating all of our options”.
The school district is drowning under $3.5 billion of debt and needs to be rescued by the state of MI, according to a report released on Wednesday by Citizens Research Council of MI, a nonprofit public affairs group. It is also hosting a discussion with parents on Thursday. “We did not invent this situation, but we’re going to solve this situation”, Conn said.
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Share with Us – We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article, and smart, constructive criticism. Earley has said during previous protests that teachers shouldn’t allow “differences of opinion or disagreements to interfere with the education of our students”.
