Detroit School Board President Calls For Suit Against The State
DETROIT (WWJ) - The Detroit School Board President is asking for help from City Council and the mayor in suing the State of Michigan over what he calls failed attempts by Lansing to reform the school system.
Lamar Lemons says the school district and Detroit residents are paying the price for that failure, going all the way back to 1999.
"When the state initiated the reform effort experiment under Public Act 10 in 1999, the DPS had an approximately $93 million surplus," said Lemon. "The state's action caused a $343 million negative swing leaving the responsibility for the payment solely on the citizens of the city of Detroit."
Lemons is calling for a class action lawsuit in light of what he calls "failed intervention."
"It has been getting extremely worse, particularly under (former state-appointed emergency financial manager) Robert Bobb," said Lemons. "And (current manager) Roy Roberts is not trying to fix the finances. He's implementing programs that actually perpetuate the deficit."
Detroit City Council members did not immediately respond to Lemons' request for assistance in filing the suit.
