Teacher Pens Letter To Detroit Schools' Emergency Manager: 'We Have Been Set Up To Fail In Every Way'

DETROIT (WWJ) - One Detroit school teacher may not get the ear of the district's emergency manager -- but thousands of colleagues, parents, friends and strangers are giving a "thumbs up" to what she has to say.

An educator for more than two decades, Pam Namyslowski teaches fourth graders at Mann Elementary on the city's west side. She's among hundreds of DPS teachers who are upset over class sizes, pay, the condition of buildings and a plan by Gov. Rick Snyder to deal with millions of debt by creating a new district.

Namyslowski recently wrote a letter to the DPS Emergency Manager Darnell Earley and posted it on social media, firing back after Earley told reporters that teachers were acting in an unethical and unacceptable manner by holding mass sickouts that have closed schools for days across the city.

"I wrote the letter because as I was listening to him during his press conference, I felt like he was blaming teachers," Namyslowski told WWJ's Laura Bonnell. "I've dealt with, and all of us who have taught in Detroit have dealt with the conditions for years and years. It's like we're being setup to fail and then for him to place the blame on us and to say that we don't care -- it just was more than I can take."

Namyslowski talked about poor classroom conditions, pay cuts, theft and verbal abuse directed toward teachers. And in spite of all that, the teachers remain committed.

"Last year, a fourth grade colleague of mine, she had 47 students in her room all year long," she said. "That is unbelievable, but that is the reality of Detroit Public Schools."

Namyslowski said people ask her all the time why she continues to work in conditions that Detroit's own mayor saw firsthand during a tour of the city's schools -- a dead mouse, buckled gym floors due to ceiling leaks and children wearing winter coats inside because it's so cold. She said the reason is simple.

"I'm needed here. I know that I can make a difference here and, for most of us too, we feel called to be here," she said.

She doesn't know whether or not Earley has read her letter, but Namyslowski said teachers and others seem to be connecting with her words.

"They've said, 'Your letter expressed the way that I've been feeling,' so I think that somehow I was just able to put words -- my words just happen to match the feelings of lots and lots of people," she said.

Namyslowski closed her letter by saying: "The recent action of teachers is not an attempt to drown out the voices of the students. It is an attempt to finally make their voices heard."

In:
• Detroit Public Schools