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POSTED: 9:48 P.M. DEC. 18, 2009 | UPDATED: 10:08 P.M. DEC. 18, 2009

Judge rules for Detroit school board

Bobb told to stop DPS academic policy-making

BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

Wayne County Circuit Judge Wendy Baxter ruled Friday that Robert Bobb, the Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager, must cease making academic policy decisions.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by the Detroit school board, which has been rendered nearly powerless since state-appointee Bobb took control of the district's $1.2-billion budget in March.

While saying that there are gray areas involved in Bobb's duties because finances overlap with academics, Baxter said nothing in state law allows an emergency financial manager to make academic policy or curriculum decisions.

She also acknowledged that this case, filed in August, has dragged on and that the Legislature was debating this week whether to allow the state to grant academic control over failing schools to an appointee.

"Waiting for the Legislature to act is ridiculous to me, because it's not within our control," Baxter said.

In its lawsuit, the board asked the court to demand that Bobb stop making academic policy decisions, powers that belong to the board. The board also claimed that Bobb failed to consult it on finances as required by law and that he should reinstate its budget for attorney's fees. Bobb countersued, demanding that the board cease attempts to make hiring decisions, powers that fall under his authority.

Baxter denied the request to force Bobb to reinstate the board's attorney's fees and ruled against Bobb's request to dismiss the case.

John Clark, a special assistant state attorney general who is representing Bobb, said "DPS needs to lay out where they think there's been an encroachment on academic powers."

He declined to comment on whether Bobb has made decisions on curriculum development.

To address that issue, Baxter told both parties to return to court every Friday in January for evidentiary hearings to determine whether Bobb has actually made academic decisions and whether he has consulted with the board on finances.

Board members said Friday they plan to immediately exercise their academic policy-making powers by aligning the curriculum with the National Assessment of Educational Progress test.

Contact CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY: 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com