yep true and sad........
-----Original Message-----
From: Katrin Richter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Mon 05/04/2004 10:56
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected]
Cc:
Subject: AW: (313) Detroit schools to cut 3,200 jobs
Well, I guess this says it all:
"Ninety percent of the remaining students are African-American, with
more than 7 out of 10 students coming from families living below the official
poverty level."
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gesendet: Montag, 5. April 2004 11:37
An: Katrin Richter; [email protected]
Betreff: RE: (313) Detroit schools to cut 3,200 jobs
so the simple thing is to invest :)
I know we all have a soft spot for Detroit and so I am be a little
biased here but is it me
or is detroit picked on? I think they should if they ae doing cut
backs, use the money to invest in the city
not make matters worse..
-----Original Message-----
From: Katrin Richter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Mon 05/04/2004 09:49
To: [email protected]
Cc:
Subject: (313) Detroit schools to cut 3,200 jobs
I guess this is on topic as school was the only place to hook
up for
Derrick, Kevin and Juan as there was nowhere else to go
Detroit schools to cut 3,200 jobs
By Jerry Isaacs
3 April 2004
Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the
author
Detroit Public Schools officials announced Thursday the
district would lay
off 3,200 school employees, including 900 teachers, by July 1.
The job cuts,
which amount to 13 percent of the workforce, are in response to
a budget
shortfall of $78 million last year and a projected deficit of
$91 million in
2005, officials say.
The cuts in the $1.5 billion budget follow an announcement last
month that
an additional 450 administrators could lose their jobs. The
district, which
already faces chronic overcrowding in the classrooms, also
plans to shut at
least three schools, in addition to the 16 closed or
consolidated last year.
The budget for supplies and purchased services will be cut by
more than
one-third to save $50 million, with funding for playground
improvements
slashed from $1 million to $250,000.
The layoffs will wreak havoc, particularly for teachers who are
already
short-handed and stretched to the limit. "You could see a gym
teacher who is
certified in kindergarten through six grade become a homeroom
teacher, or an
instrumental teacher might have to go back to the classroom,"
district
spokesman Mario Morrow said.
Kenneth Burnley, CEO of the Detroit Public Schools, said he
also plans to
renegotiate the district's contract with the Detroit Federation
of Teachers
in order reduce or eliminate 3-4 percent annual raises that
teachers are
due.
The 151,000-student school district-the largest in the
state-has been hit
hard by federal and state budget cuts, the ongoing loss of
manufacturing
jobs and tax revenue in Michigan, rising fuel costs and a
decline in
enrollment. Over the last eight years nearly 30,000 students
have
transferred to charter, private and suburban schools. Ninety
percent of the
remaining students are African-American, with more than 7 out
of 10 students
coming from families living below the official poverty level.
Facing a $1 billion state deficit, Michigan's Democratic
governor Jennifer
Granholm and the state legislature are cutting per-pupil grants
for K-12
education by $55 per student and revising the formula for
counting pupils in
schools, in order to slash another $43 million from state
spending for
schools. In the proposed state budget, Detroit could also lose
another $15
million it has been receiving since the state took over the
district in
1999. On Wednesday the state senate also rejected a plan that
would have
given extra money to districts with declining enrollments.
Because of stagnating or falling revenue school districts
throughout
Michigan are facing budget cuts and layoffs. According to Tom
White,
executive director of the Michigan School Business officials,
90 percent of
state districts are planning to lay off staff or not fill open
positions.
"It's like getting squeezed by a python," he said, the
"pressure just is
increasing as time goes by. It is going to get ugly and I don't
hear a great
deal of concern being raised in [the state capital] Lansing."
Like other districts nationwide, Detroit schools are also
threatened by the
provisions of the Bush administration's 2001 federal education
plan, the
so-called No Child Left Behind Act, which removes federal funds
if districts
fail to achieve specific academic goals. One quarter of the
district's
schools have already been warned they must overhaul their
operations because
of "chronic failure." The school district received a federal
reading grant
of nearly $6.5 million in August but continued funding hinges on
1st-through-8th and 10th-graders passing tests at the end of
the school
year. The budget cutbacks announced Thursday all but ensure
future failures,
guaranteeing even more devastating budget cuts.
"We don't need any more cuts," said Mary, a longtime Detroit
school bus
driver. "What is going to happen to the kids with special
needs, the
disabled and impaired students? We heard they plan to take away
the bus
attendants that help us in the busses with handicapped
students. This is
outrageous.
"The conditions are already unbearable in the schools.
Buildings are falling
apart, there is no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms, the
classrooms are
overcrowded and the teachers are spending money out of their
own pockets for
supplies. These budget cuts are taking the future away from our
kids. With
the casinos downtown making millions and CEOs are raking it in
how can they
say there is no money for schools?
"You know the economy is way down when you start taking away
from schools
that are already hurting. How can you talk about 'No Child Left
Behind' when
you are laying off teachers?"
See Also:
Detroit school employees march against layoffs
[22 February 2002]
Detroit school restructuring plan attacks workers and students
[17 April 2001]
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/apr2004/detr-a03.shtml
