DPS Ordered to Pay Teachers Deducted Wages

Detroit teachers voted to deduct pay in 2009 to help the beleaguered school district remain afloat. The monies were to be paid back when the teacher left the district. DPS EFM Robert Bobb issued 5,466 lay-off notices this month, and four teachers filed a complaint to have the monies paid. EFM Bobb spokesmodel Steve Wasko said based on this judge's flawed analysis "the district would never be able to secure concessions ever." What the hell does that have to do with anything? The district will appeal the ruling. Who's paying for that - the laid-off teachers at about $8,000 per?

Detroit Public Schools Training Volunteer School Boards

DPS is training volunteer school board members for one day each. 50 will train this Saturday. Volunteer school board members do not have to reside in Detroit and there are no specific qualifications required. DPS wants 225 volunteers to work 6 to 10 hours a week, with a 3-year contract to a for-profit private charter operator for free. One volunteer board of 5-9 members will meet once a month for every charter school; number to be determined by successful charter operator applicants. Applications now being taken for charter operators through May 2. DPS hired the National Association of School Charter Authorizers to review applications. Charter school operators will be chosen by June. Schools need to be opened by September. Greatschools.org defines the mission of school boards. School boards establish the vision for education in the community. School board members must be committed to, and live in, the city wherein the school functions. Will one day of training create vision? Charter schools are for-profit. Can somebody tell me where the money comes from? NACSA's work will be privately funded, according to a DPS spokesperson. Who is privately funding this activity? Why is that not public knowledge? Does this feel as grim and desperate to you as it does to me? Where are the proven indicators of success and how soon will the school children of Detroit feel the positive difference these plans promise?

Detroit Schools Squeezed: Is EFM Bobb Effective?

5,466 layoff notices were received by Detroit teachers. 45 "academically struggling" schools will be bid out to private contractors for charter schools. The single most successful school in Detroit will be closed. Catherine Ferguson Academy is a school where pregnant teenagers can get an education. Ferguson has a 90% graduation rate, and a 100% acceptance rate for 2- and 4-year colleges. Ferguson also is a successful program in the urban agriculture arena. Academically struggling? Day School for the Deaf, opened in 1898, is also to be closed. DPS EFM Robert C. Bobb was appointed by Gov. Granholm in 2009 to a city with a $200 million school deficit. Michigan's Public Act 4 now expands his powers to dismantle union contracts, dismiss the school board, fire all the teachers. City of Detroit two pension boards filed suit Monday charging MI Public Act 4 is unconstitutional. After two years of Robert Bobb, the school district deficit is $363 million. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called Detroit "Ground Zero" in the administration's education reform plan. So far so good, hey? Michigan School Superintendent Michael Flanagan said the plans must be implemented immediately. In addition to closing approximately half of Detroit's public schools, outsourcing charters, and laying off teachers, Bobb has a new contract with serial workers' rights abuser Sodexo, a multinational food services and maintenance company with a troublesome international record. Bobb will also replace Safeway Transportation, owned by black entrepreneurs providing 35 years of school bus support to Detroit schools with another multinational - First Student has safety issues. First Student was paid $85,000 to analyze the Detroit School District's transportation system, make recommendations and then allowed to bid on the contract, which Bobb awarded to First Student. Bobb added $90,000 to the deficit with consulting fees. Is Robert C. Bobb a problem solver? Does Robert C. Bobb's job performance allow for expanded powers, more authority? Can we see a more successful Detroit Public Schools in our near future? A school district with a prime directive around students and their safety and success? Short term solutions implemented by EFMs in the past have not worked. We need long term thinkers, right thinking doers. Is Public Act 4 the way we find them?

Michigan Emergency Financial Managers

Emergency financial managers in Michigan are at work in Benton Harbor, Detroit Public Schools, Ecorse and Pontiac. The people are Robert Bobbs, EFM Detroit Public Schools (although his current appointment was to end February 28, 2011), Michael Stampfler in Pontiac, Joyce Parker in Ecorse, Joseph Harris in Benton Harbor. It's intriguing that EFM Joe Harris' previous job was as CFO and Auditor General, City of Detroit. An Analysis of Emergency Conditions by Eric Scorsone in 2010 discusses the previous public act that allowed EFMs to be appointed. The EFM does not have to be from, or live in, the jurisdiction and serves at the pleasure of the Local Emergency Assistance Loan Board (Michigan legislature). House bills 4214-4218 and 4246, approved in February, and this month's approval of MI Senate 153 expands the power of the EFM, as noted in the article regarding Robert Bobbs' proposal to turn 41 Detroit public schools into charter schools. He has not met his previously mandated goal to reduce the deficit as financial manager, yet with the new law he will also be empowered to make academic decisions. Here is the Benton Harbor 2010 Financial Plan. The City of Pontiac Amended Financial Plan is here. Both of these plans include laying off police and fire, and in Pontiac, to contract with the Oakland County Sheriff's Department for public safety. The Pontiac Police Department voted to dissolve their union contract, and within hours, Police Chief Val Gross, a 29 year veteran, was fired by Michael Stampfler. The Benton Harbor plan proposes eliminating 911 service, and privatizing the water department. I need to look for evidence that privatizing anything works to reduce costs. These cities are operating deficits, not solely due to lousy accounting practices, but because the money going out exceeds the money coming in. Property taxes in arrears won't be collected by knocking down houses, building new housing, outsourcing public safety, and tidying up the backoffice. We can all agree that cities are in serious trouble. So is the economy of the country. Layoffs won't fix the mess. Public works initiatives won't nudge the bottom line into the black. We need bigger thinkers. As Einstein said, "You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew." Where's the new thinking here?