Michigan House Votes To Pay Detroit School Debt Without Dems
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - After 15 hours of mostly private meetings, the Michigan House approved a $500 million restructuring plan for the ailing Detroit Public Schools early Thursday.
House lawmakers started session Wednesday and emerged from a series of private caucus meetings around 4 a.m. Thursday to approve a plan to make sure teachers are paid and the district pays off debt.
But the plan doesn't include a commission that would have the authority to approve which schools open and close in the city, a key part of the Senate plan which passed previously and a major reason why Democrats voted against the package. Democrats argued the omission would not address root problems at the schools, which they said related to state control over the district, lack of money and the proliferation of area charter schools.
The House plan also doesn't include $200 million that was in the Senate plan, which Democrats said was crucial for the schools' recovery.
"The House Republicans ... went with a go-it-alone approach themselves that while it allocates hundreds of millions of dollars to the Detroit school system, it does not institute the needed reforms that are really needed to turn the district around," Michigan House minority leader Tim Greimel said live on WWJ Newsradio 950. "As a result, it's Mayor Duggan's view and our view that this is really just going to waste $500 million without actually improving things in the district."
Greimel said the bills do nothing to address the underlying cause of the district's problems.
"One of the big problems in the school district is that there aren't enough qualified teachers teaching in the school district. The House Republicans in their proposal actually removed the requirement that teachers be certified and qualified," he said. "Another problem we've seen that resulted in this enormous debt being rung up in the district is that the district's been under a failed system of emergency management. The governor has acknowledged that emergency management has failed in the Detroit school system, and yet the House Republicans are insisting that un-elected bureaucrats still select the superintendent for the Detroit school district, when that system has failed."
Rep. Fred Durhal III, a Detroit Democrat called it a "temporary fix" and implied that the GOP-controlled House was aiding the continuation of a "second class education" for Detroit children.
Some Democrats say the language in the bill that was passed is essentially union busting and an attempt to make teachers pay for those two missed days of school earlier this week.
"Some of the elements that Democrats say is an attempt to union bust were, for the first, non-certified teachers would be allowed in the classroom, the state would have oversight of the teachers for two years and the people of Detroit would not elect a new school board until the year 2018, teachers would not be able to negotiate their school calendar, it would eliminate seniority as a basis of pay and replace that with merit pay, and here's the one the unions really don't like, the teachers basically would have to reapply for their jobs in the new Detroit school system -- Democrats and others say that's basically the teachers being fired and hoping they get their jobs back," said WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick. "There's not a lot to like for the teachers as this measure now goes to the state Senate."
House Education Committee Vice Chairman Rep. Adam Zemke called it "a disgrace."
"Instead of solving the problems facing Detroit schools and their students, House Republicans are using this crisis as an opportunity to further their partisan agenda," Zemke said in a statement. "It's a shame that my Republican colleagues are more focused on punishing hardworking teachers who dared to speak out about the conditions of Detroit schools rather than on the need Detroit children have for safe schools and a quality education."
But Republicans bristled at Democrats' ire.
"I have never had a more difficult time in providing half a billion dollars," Rep. Al Pscholka told fellow lawmakers.
Republican Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter argued that including the commission would have limited charter schools in the city. Cotter called it a "big step forward" for the Detroit schools.
"The people of Michigan want assurances that this incredible investment in the district will be used well and protected," Cotter said in a statement. "The House Republican plan delivers that protection and includes serious reforms to ensure every dollar will be used effectively and efficiently."
He said including the commission Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Democrats had called for would have "choked out charter schools."
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