The DPS sickout: teachers digging their own grave?

Last updated on: March 26, 2016 at 4:16 pm by Jane the Actuary

The DPS sickout: teachers digging their own grave? 2016-03-26T16:16:30-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The teachers of the Detroit Public Schools staged a “sickout” today. You know, the sort of protest where they all called in sick, even though they weren’t, and used the day to protest against the DPS administration. According to the Detroit News,

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, a DPS spokeswoman said 88 of the district’s 97 schools were closed due to the high volume of teacher absences, the latest in a series of sickouts in the state’s largest district.

Wednesday afternoon, the district filed a complaint in the Michigan Court of Claims seeking a restraining order and a preliminary injunction forcing teachers to end the sickouts.

Now, I could be cynical and say that the usual hardships that such de facto strikes impose on parents left with no one to watch their kids, aren’t an issue in Detroit where no one’s employed anyway, but I won’t.

I will say that the situation in Detroit is complicated.

On the one hand, these teachers are digging their own grave. Detroit — indeed all of Michigan — has a system of Schools of Choice and charter schools. Charter schools everyone’s familiar with, but Schools of Choice means that kids can apply to attend public schools in neighboring towns, and take their share of the state funding with them. Now,you wouldn’t think any of the neighboring school districts would take Detroit kids, but since school funding comes largely from the state, and since Detroit kids help fill what would otherwise be empty classrooms, they do. With respect to charter schools, unlike some states where approval is difficult, in Michigan, there is no issue around setting up a charter school. Surprisingly, for as much as conservatives like to talk about school choice, no one seems to know about, or talk about, at least, the Michigan experience — and this has been around for over 20 years.

And parents in Detroit have been taking full advantage — the clear majority of schoolchildren — about 60% — living in Detroit attend charter schools, Schools of Choice, or parochial schools. Are those that remain in the DPS simply dedicated to their local public school? I would guess, though when I was reading about this back last spring I couldn’t find out much, that there are a number of factors, but that the DPS kids are more likely to have parents who can’t arrange for transportation, or who are just indifferent to their kids’ education in general.

And every such sickout, every such instance when teachers leave the classroom, is going to send all the more parents looking at their charter and other options, and, by the loss of per-student money, make the financial situation all the worse.

But at the same time, when teachers complain about building upkeep and other problems in the schools, they’re not being whiners, either. The DPS has serious financial problems — as does any organization saddled with huge legacy costs like pensions, debt, building maintenance, etc. After all, their student body population went from 150,000 to 50,000 in only ten years. This is not an easy change to cope with, and is not something that is easily mock-able as just another “blue state failure,” because the teacher complaints — of dead rats found at public schools, mildew taking over ceilings and walls and damage to school buildings — are real, and there’s just not an easy solution.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 20, 2016

How Singapore stops public groping

Next Post

January 21, 2016 "Collective fear" in Germany? Keeping blinders firmly affixed!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many chapters are in the book of Revelation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

30 12 22 24