DETROIT BOARD of EDUCATION with Members of the Community Title VI Complaint Against Governor Rick Snyder
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ABRIDGED VERSION DETROIT BOARD OF EDUCATION with Members of the Community Title VI Complaint Against Governor Rick Snyder July 27, 2015 1 2 3 4 Public education in America made this country great, but the racist tidal wave dissolving "Urban" schools in Michigan lead by Governor Snyder is the New Trail of Tears. Under this governor, urban schools have deteriorated into community eyesores and crime havens which are destroying the fabric of minority neighborhoods, and being replaced by experimental private models which have been proven ill equipped to provide quality learning environments. These institutions deny students with learning disabilities and other challenges an equal opportunity to an education, creating truly separate and unequal systems between white and black once again. Earl Rickman Past President, National Association of School Boards 5 TIMELINE The State of Michigan has been in authority over the Detroit Public Schools for approximately 13 of the last 16 years and is a recipient of Federal funds. Detroit Public Schools is a majority-minority district with the highest concentration of minorities of any city of 100,000 residents according to the 2010 US Census. 1994 In 1994, residents approved a $1.5 billion dollar capital bond program for Detroit Public Schools, which they will be paying for until at least 2033. The original bond was to be used to repair and renovate school buildings to service a then stable student enrollment of 167,000 students. The control of the spending of the bond dollars was a hotly contested issue, where various parties tried to take planning and spending authority from the school board. School community parents were able to have their voices heard on facility needs under the elected board. In 1994, Detroit Public Schools had 261 schools, not including administration buildings. Total repair costs and construction estimates stood at $3.9 billion – well above the bond amount. 1999 Approvals for spending bond funds were delayed in Lansing as the Governor and various parties in the region fought for access to the bond dollars. Such were the degree of delays that by 1999, only $300 million of the bond money had actually been used. Enrollment had continued rising, topping out at 173,000 students. Also in 1999, the state enacted special legislation (Public Act 10 of 1999) for the purpose of allowing then- Governor John Engler to replace the democratically elected school board with a CEO whose power was that of a Superintendent and the elected board. The law allowed voters to decide after five years whether to stay with the CEO model or return to an elected school board. Residents were not happy about the forced take-over of their school district and loss of local control. The immediate result was a loss of 5,000 students from the district for the next school year, which began a hemorrhage of students. This was the first enrollment decline in a decade. Detroit Public Schools was operated under receivership of a CEO with an appointed board with no governance authority from 1999 through 2005. When DPS was first put into receivership, they actually had a stable budget with a $93 million surplus. 2003 Within four years, state management had created a $200 million deficit. All decisions were made by the CEO. A loan of $210 million was borrowed to cover the deficit with a repayment over 15 years of $315 million. 6 7 2004 In November of 2004, the citizens of Detroit overwhelmingly voted to return to a locally elected Board. The legislature delayed the seating of a new board until January, 2006. 2005 In the November 2005 election, the citizens of Detroit chose their elected Board Members. 2006 In January 2006, the new locally elected Board members were sworn into office. They discovered the financial status of the school district .That summer they were able to participate in the 2006/2007 budget. It was decided to close an unprecedented 32 schools to address the state-created deficit. The residents and parents did not agree with some of the expenditures which had taken place under the State Reform Board reported on television by Tom Brokaw, such as the $40 million dollar renovation of the Fisher Building, which the district did not own. 2009 An Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) was put in charge of DPS again in 2009 by then- Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm under the provisions of PA 72 of 1990, the Local Government Fiscal Responsibility Act. The school community was promised by Granholm and incoming EFM Robert Bobb that the elected school board would set academic policy while Bobb tried to fix the finances of DPS. Granholm and Bobb immediately broke this promise when Bobb assumed office and threatened the jobs of any DPS employee who failed to follow his orders. He also imposed gag orders on administrative staff Another bond was voted for in 2009, under Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, adding another $500.5 million for building improvement, even though the district had lost over half of its student enrollment and closed dozens of buildings by then. The related debt is being paid annually by Detroit property owners and is scheduled to be paid off in 2039. The bond money was spent on facilities, because by law it could not be spent on anything else such as decreasing the deficit, day-to-day operations or teachers’ salaries. 2011 After renovations some buildings were demolished; many have been leased to charter schools; and many more have been shuttered where they lay in disrepair attracting vandals, vagrants, drug dealers, feral animals, and scrap collectors who have gutted the structures and left nothing but barren shells of formerly majestic century- old showplaces. Fifteen schools, many of them the newly built, were taken by Governor Rick Snyder in 2011 to create his own school district, the Education Achievement Authority, which is not within his constitutional powers and has not yet been ratified by the Legislature, despite the Governor's attempts to seek Legislative approval. COSTLY PROJECTS DEVELOPED & MANAGED BY STATE Finney High School was demolished at a cost of $2.5 million under the 1994 bond, prior to the approval of the 2009 bond by voters. Under the new bond, construction of a new high school on the former site of Finney HS 8 was completed at a cost of $56.9 million. The new high school was named East English Village Preparatory Academy in 2012 and remains open to service select DPS high school students. The school concentrates on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Fine and Performing Arts. Students must undergo an application and admissions process to attend this public school, so it is not an open admission “neighborhood” school available to all DPS students. Mumford High School was demolished and replaced with a new building at a cost of $56 million. Upon completion in 2012, Mumford High School was immediately turned over to the Educational Achievement Authority. The lease amount is for $1 million per year, which will amortize the construction cost in a mere 56 years. Kettering High School, renovated at a cost of $6.9 million was closed in 2012 and remains vacant. Kettering was specially outfitted to service physically disabled students, with one entire wing converted for this purpose. Southwestern High School was closed in 2012 and remains vacant following a $6.5 million bond investment that included revamping the auditorium. The building was sold by the State for $3 million. Nearly $810,000 was used to renovate Cass Technical High School, and within a short time a new building was announced which was the third most pricey high school built at that time, at $127 million. The old Cass Tech building was then demolished. The EAA has benefitted greatly from bond money intended to improve DPS buildings. Southeastern High School and Central High School both received renovations and repairs amounting to more than $50 million for each building and were taken by the Governor through his DPS Emergency Manager to give to the EAA. CONCLUSION The bulk of the bond money paid by the residents of Detroit to improve their school system was spent between 1999 and 2006 (from the 1994 bond) under the CEO, and from 2009 through 2012 (from the 2009 bond) under Emergency Manager appointees of the Governor. Since 1999, Detroit Public Schools has been under the control of the CEO or an Emergency Financial Manager or Emergency Manager, except during the 2006-2008 period. For years, the waste of funding has been blamed on Detroiters, although Detroiters played no role in the expenditures. The problems incurred by DPS lay solely at the feet of the state, under three different governors: Engler , Granholm, and Snyder. Money that was spent to build new buildings or improve buildings seems to be overwhelmingly benefitting the EAA and not DPS students. In 2013, there were 87 vacant or underutilized buildings belonging to DPS that were for sale or lease. A total of $78.6 million was spent on improvements or renovations to 83 of those buildings. There have been 26 buildings demolished at a cost of $27.4 million. Another 28 buildings received a whopping $295.4 million investment and are now leased to community organizations, the EAA, or charter schools. 9 By 2013, DPS has also sold several buildings that received a total $36.4 million in renovations and repairs prior to the sales. That is a lot of expenditure for buildings not being used by DPS as tax payers intended. In fact, only about half of the bond money was spent on buildings that are still in use by DPS for Detroit students.