Dive Brief:
- After two days of highly-publicized teacher sickout protests, lawmakers in Michigan have approved a plan to restructure the Detroit Public Schools district that carries a price tag of $500 million.
- The plan is supposed to make sure that teachers can be paid throughout the summer of 2016 and the district eliminates debt.
- A state Senate plan is also supposed to provide more than $200 million in additional funding.
Dive Insight:
The new plan is good news for the district, yet some remain wary.
State Dems, like Rep. Fred Durhal III, have branded the new move a "temporary fix," saying that state's House, which is controlled by Republicans, is now aiding the continuation of a "second class education" for Detroit students, the Associated Press reported.
The former state-appointed emergency manager of DPS, Darnell Earley, resigned four-and-a-half months early in February, leaving the district in chaos. Earley was criticized for his handling of teacher sickouts and crumbling building conditions.
Previously, after teacher sickouts, subsequent inspections by school officials, and widespread media attention on a national level, some improvements began to appear. One teacher told CNN that schools had been falling apart for years. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's visits to a few DPS buildings led to subsequent calls for a district-wide investigation of 97 buildings; that investigation found one or more violations present in every building.
