Duggan: Some Detroit school conditions 'break your heart'

[alp227]

Source: Detroit Free Press

Mayor Mike Duggan added his voice Tuesday to those of teachers and others calling for state help for Detroit Public Schools, noting that conditions in some of them "break your heart."

"What I saw today was a mixed bag," Duggan said after touring four schools in the city. "There were some schools that were very well-maintained. There were some other schools that would just break your heart, where students wore their coats in class until it was warm enough to take them off or where children couldn't use the gym because of water damage. "

Duggan's tour came as 24 schools were closed Tuesday because of teacher sick-outs called to protest what teachers say are deplorable conditions for them as well as students. On Monday, 60 schools were closed because of sick-outs.

Individual teachers took to social media to blast the current state of the schools while their union leader demanded public hearings to address the problems in the schools.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/01/12/sick-outs-prompt-more-closures-detroit-schools/78647624/

[Matariki]

1. Public education needs to be funded uniformly and nationally

NOT based on the neighborhood's property values - which is surpassingly unfair and classist. And not according to the wealth of a state. A kid born in Arkansas deserves as good an education as a kid born in California. This seems so obvious to me and yet I rarely if ever hear this discusses as a problem.

[navarth]

2. agreed. nt

[branford]

3. All schools receive federal and state funding.

Wealthier communities unsurprisingly invest more in their schools.

People primarily move to communities because of the quality of schools, law enforcement, etc. That is the nature of private property and local governance.

What you suggest would not only require radically changing the legal, cultural and political environment that has existed for as long as anyone can remember, but also likely involve massive and politically and legally untenable redistribution of wealth, substantially increased federal and state taxes, and actual prohibitions on local educational funding. It would also pit various teacher's unions against one another, and support conservative demands for investment in schools rather than teacher salaries and benefits.

Spending more money also doesn't necessarily mean demonstrable change in outcomes, as has been amply demonstrated time and again. One of the reasons wealthier suburban school districts have better scores and outcomes is because the parents of these students are generally far better educated themselves and more involved in, give greater priority to, and possess the skills to assist with, the education of their children, come from more stable and safe homes and communities, have peers who share these social benefits, etc. Attempts to address these sociological disparities, such as busing students to end segregation, noth de jure and de facto, and charter schools, have not been particularly successful, have sometimes been held unlawful, and certainly have their own inherent problems.

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. A radical redistribution of wealth has happened over the last 35 years, time to repeal Reaganomics.

We need another radical redistribution of wealth downward. And not a piss-on or trickle-down, if that sounds less offensive, economic policy.

Reaganomics also began the destruction of the public school system with Bill Bennett in charge of DOE.

UNDO the Reagan De-evolution. That would fix a lot of problems alone.

[branford]

6. The dichotomy of educational results between poor, largely urban schools

and their wealthier, white suburban neighbors existed well before Reagan was governor of California, no less president.

"White flight" and similar issues are not the result of trickle-down economics or even capitalism.

You are certainly entitled to your own economic preferences, and I largely share your dislike of Reagan. but you failed to substantively address of the actual points in my post, no less propose a remotely feasible political or legal mechanism to attain your desired undoing of the "Reagan Revolution."

[jwirr]

10. You are missing the point. If you send a child to a school that

is run down, lacks books, etc. they are not going to do as well as the fully funded school.

You are correct this started long before RR - most of these areas were never a part of the New Deal, or the War on Poverty or urban renewal. The programs were passed for them but never reached them.

And the busing programs did not help because it only touched a few.

I am sorry if our richer communities might actually have to do something to make education good for everyone. It is welfare and prisons or better education - take your pick.

[branford]

13. I think we might be talking past one another.

Budgets have significantly and steadily increased in the vast majority of these mainly urban school districts since before Reagan, yet the infrastructure remains embarrassing and dangerous and performance has not improved. It's the very reason why Republicans have successfully managed to convincingly make teachers and their unions the "enemy," claiming they and their Democratic cohorts running these urban governments are siphoning resources at the expense of innocent children.

In fact, citing Detroit is not particularly helpful when demanding more school resources. This is a strong union city run by Democrats for over 60 years, suffered serious white flight after race riots, never adapted to economic realities, and has been plagued by overwhelmingly incompetent and often corrupt leadership.

You need not convince me that these poorly performing schools need more resources. I already agree. Nevertheless, they also need far better and more closely monitored leadership, as well as a major changes in the cultures of many of these communities about education. Concessions to teachers unions or interest groups, or at least the perceptions of such, will need to end. Even with this, there will still be large disparities with suburban schools who have children from more educated and economically successful parents.

[Dont call me Shirley]

12. Although white flight and unequal funding of schools has existed before Bennett, his policies began

the unraveling of public schools toward full privatization, which is the end game.

Funding redistribution must be addressed in order to repair aging schools and improve failing curriculum. Programs must be instituted to help kids at risk during their school day without the stigma. Corrosive competition and bullying must become minimal, by using programs which foster cooperation and unity. Abusive over testing must be ended. These issues have gotten progressively worse in the past 25 years my kids have been in school.

[Matariki]

5. Indeed. I am suggesting a restructuring of how taxes are used and distributed

I don't see anything fair about having better schools in rich neighborhoods. It perpetuates an already stacked and unfair class system.

[branford]

7. You're doing more than suggesting some taxation restructuring.

You also didn't address the substantial non-economic factors that create or exacerbate the disparity in educational outcomes between urban and suburban schools, nor suggest a viable political or legal path to achieve your goals. Certainly nothing you demand is advocated to any major degree by our Party Platform or current candidates, and would not be supported by the numerous exurban Democrats we need to actually win elections.

[Matariki]

8. What do you suggest as an idea to fix the problem?

Why should the children of the well off get better educations? Why does Detroit have impossibly bad school buildings where the heat doesn't even work? How is that not a problem that needs fixing, specifically with an allocation of funds?

[Plucketeer]

9. Put Sanders in the Oval Office

Things won't (can't) change overnight, but Bernie would be a great start to reformation of public education. Remember, this is the prospect who proposes pouring funds into new and improved schools instead of prison construction.

[branford]

11. I honestly don't know how to fix the problems,

and believe the government might not be a pancea.

We've already tremendously increased school spending in urban districts over the last few decades without seeing a demonstrable increase in performance in urban schools. We also already tried social solutions like busing and charter schools. These also didn't work, some were struck-down as unlawful, many are opposed by important Democratic constituencies like teacher's unions, and backlashes against perceived Democratic "social engineering" or "union give-aways" in the mid and late 20th Century lead to the ascendancy of people like Reagan and Bush who arguably made the problems worse.

Simply, increasing budgets, no less a radical and utterly impossible national restructuring of taxation and local governance, without a major change in the cultures of the communities with the poor performance and demonstrable improvement in their local leadership, particularly in places like Detroit, will not solve the problem.

[angstlessk]

14. Funny how every politicans ideal is awash in cash

They believe the more money you spend the better on arms, on the MIC in general...talk about FAIL...and when they do...spend more money
..
I believe money spent on education could raise MANY from poverty...not just teachers/students..spend money to educate the parents...to educate the neighborhood...

Money SAVED from sending them to jail!

[branford]

15. We certainly strongly oppose writing blanks checks for conservative wish lists,

and I honestly don't blame Republicans as well as many local Democrats when they demand an accounting of why the significant increases in urban educational spending over a period of decades has not resulted in better performance, with results often getting worse. There's a reason why teachers unions, such as in CA and NY, are now unpopular in many areas and being fought locally by a large numbers of Democratic parents (and politicians) along with their new Republican (and surprised and pleased) allies.

The OP cited Detroit. Instead of actually helping students, much of that allocated educational spending historically went to line the pockets of corrupt politicians or simply wasted or pissed-away by shockingly incompetent city leadership and administrators. If I were a Republican, I wouldn't hesitate to cite the fact that Detroit was run almost exclusively by Democrats, largely minority, for over 60 years. Detroit was not a credit to Democratic leadership or ethics.

I don't believe the Pentagon should be written blank checks, nor do I believe doing so for the Dept. of Education will demonstrably improve results without other significant cultural and political changes in many communities.

[awoke_in_2003]

16. It won't happen

because they want to break public education, then privatize it. One day, only those who can afford education will get it.

[Jack Rabbit]

17. In Michigan, be careful what you wish for

Last time Governor Snyder paid any attention to Detroit, he sent Kevyn Orr.