Duggan: Detroit Students Need Teachers Back In Classrooms

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) — Mayor Mike Duggan is asking teachers to end sick-outs that have closed dozens of Detroit public schools.

Duggan says Monday in a release that he understands "teachers' frustration," but Detroit children need them "in the classroom."

The district says it closed 64 schools Monday due to teacher absences. Several schools also were closed last week.

Many teachers are dissatisfied with their pay and the district's poor finances. The teachers' union also complained Monday about rodent infestations, mold, overcrowded classrooms and other problems in school buildings.

"If the reports I received today about the building conditions are accurate it's very disturbing," Duggan said. "The problems are real and we're going to push really hard to get the state to move on them."

Duggan says he plans to visit schools Tuesday to make sure the district is complying with city health and building codes.

Up to 30 to 40 percent of all state funding for Detroit schools is now going to pay debt instead of going toward teaching children, Duggan said.

"The state of Michigan has been running Detroit Public Schools for nearly seven years," Duggan said." We've got buildings in terrible shape, we've got deficits, declining enrollments and alike, and we really need Lansing to address this problem with some urgency."

Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, wants to pay off the debt and spin off a new district, but he lacks support so far in the Legislature. There are no ongoing negotiations between teachers and schools, which are run by a Snyder appointee, emergency manager Darnell Earley.

"We understand and share their frustration," Earley said in a statement, referring to teachers.

But the absences make it "more challenging" to reach a political solution with state lawmakers in the Capitol, he said.

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