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Friday, November 2, 2012

Detroit Teacher Wonders: What If I Could Quit When I "Didn't Have the Tools" I Need? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Detroit Teacher Wonders: What If I Could Quit When I "Didn't Have the Tools" I Need? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:


Detroit Teacher Wonders: What If I Could Quit When I "Didn't Have the Tools" I Need?

Next Tuesday, Michigan voters will decide whether to dump a new law that grants broad powers to "emergency managers" who, under Public Act 4, passed in 2011, assume managerial control over financially floundering municipalities and school districts, stripping elected boards and officials of power. Detroit Public Schools have been under the direction of an Emergency Manager, off and on, for years, but Public Act 4 radically expanded outside control. The current Emergency Manager of DPS, Roy Roberts, sent a letter to the governor, about the "tools" he needs to effect change. This is how an award-winning, veteran Detroit Public Schools teacher--who clearly must remain anonymous-- interprets that letter:

This morning in my email I read a letter from the Emergency Financial Manager of Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts, to Rick Snyder, Governor of Michigan, detailing his concerns about Proposal One. He basically indicated if it Prop One didn't pass, he would be resigning. It