Source: The Atlantic
Detroit’s public schools are regarded as the lowest performing across the nation and among the biggest cities. A recent report from the National Assessment of Education Progress found that only four percent of eighth graders were performing at grade level in math and reading. The Atlantic reports that a major reason for this is major debts causing schools to close down periodically and much too frequently.
The educational opportunities for students here are slim, as over 200 Detroit’s schools have closed since the state took over and deemed unfit conditions. Eighty-one of those campuses are vacant, and tens of “open” campuses close and re-open every now and then, leaving parents to figure out where their child will go to next in the middle of the year.
At the moment, two opposing bills created to tackle the “catastrophe” of Detroit’s public schools are moving through legislation. The first, passed by the House of Representatives will allocate $500 million in debt relief to public and charter schools, and also includes provisions that limit teachers’ ability to negotiate their contracts and to poses obstacles to fighting against school building conditions. The second bill from the state senate will hand control of major decisions to the locally elected school board and will create a Detroit Education Committee.
Citizens and leaders of Detroit’s educational programs hope that the senate bill will lead to great changes in oversight and quality to ultimately build opportunities for children in Detroit.
Read full story at: The Atlantic