By NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
LANSING — The intense debate over who should run Detroit Public Schools exploded into accusations of racism and outside influence as Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb pressed state legislators Thursday to give him more control over the beleaguered district.
It was Bobb’s second pitch for more power since national test re sults released last month showed the school system as having the worst scores in the country. He said the district is in dire need of financial reform and academic changes.
“The system has failed,” he testi fied in Lansing. “We owe every kid … an apology.”
Some critics at the Lansing hearing said Bobb is playing into racism by hyping up the poor test results and trying to take away Detroit control of the district.
But Bobb bristled at the idea and noted that he, like the vast majority of the district’s students, is black.
Curriculum is new DPS battle
Critics say manager is grabbing power
By NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
LANSING — The growing academic emergency in De troit Public Schools is a “call for all of us to act,” Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb said at a public hearing in Lansing before the House Edu cation Committee on Thursday.
Seeking control of academ i cs, Bobb slammed the dis trict’s previous administra tions for “a culture that failed to take its fiduciary responsi bilities serious ly.”
“Who’s to blame?” he asked at one point. “Not the kids … the adults who have maintained a system that has overwhelmingly failed.”
Noting the tension between Bobb, the board and some in the public, legislators urged Bobb and his team to do a bet ter job at communicating to people in the district.
But Bobb said his team is constantly communicating its message to all involved groups. And he stressed the urgency of reform: “We can’t let any day go by.”
“There is an academic emergency,” he said after the contentious hearing.
Bobb’s critics attacked him and his supporters for trying to bring in outsiders to rule ov er Detroit children.
One parent, Christopher White, said Bobb and others used the low test scores re leased last month as a way to bash Detroiters and increase their power.
White, who is African American, said racism is play ing a role in the push to strip Detroiters of control over the district.
Thursday’s hearing was packed with more than 50 De troit parents, school board members and others interest ed in the discussion over who should control the largest school district in the state. Bobb was tasked with focusing on finances, but he said that in order to change that, he has to be able to look at other parts of the district — such as academ ic policies.
He compared his situation to that of a General Motors CEO who has to take his com pany out of bankruptcy with out being able to alter the products. Opponents worried about giving him too much power.
“Why would you turn over our district to one person?” shouted Sandra Hines of the Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS.
During Bobb’s testimony, Hines frequently interrupted, prompting state Rep. Tim Mel ton, D-Auburn Hills, chairman of the committee, to ask for quiet several times.
Bobb laid out his case for improving the district and of fered a five-point plan.
“We have to set high standards,” he said. “It’s not about Robert Bobb.”
Bobb promises new academic plan for Detroit schools
By CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
While school officials, parents and residents debated in Lansing on Thursday over who should make academic decisions in Detroit Public Schools, experts across the country were vetting an education plan devised to help city students reach lofty goals by 2015.
Robert Bobb, the emergen cy financial manager for the school district, said the academic plan he expects to unveil in 30 days aims to prepare stu dents to reach or exceed national averages relating to the ACT test, dropout rate, gradu ation and third-grade reading scores.
Next week, DPS officials are to take questions from those reviewing the goals, making sure they are doable and align with national standards.
The plan would be supported by the $80 million in Race to the Top funding that the district applied for.
Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the district’s chief academic and accountability auditor, said the major difference between this plan and one offered by the school board is specificity as well as mechanisms to tie teachers’ and principals’ evaluations to student performance and test scores.
Bobb’s draft plan calls for:
■ Three math and reading standardized tests a year in ad dition to the MEAP.
■ Pre-algebra in sixth grade, al gebra by eighth grade.
■ Requiring every high school student to take an advanced
placement class.
■ Creating learning villages in schools, allowing teachers con stant opportunities for devel opment and training.
Superintendent Teresa Gueyser said the plan the board approved last summer is “learner focused.” It calls for:
■ Individualized learning plans.
■ A longer school day.
■ Twice-yearly professional development for teachers.
Bobb and the school board are at odds over academic con trol, and he indicated he will not pay for their plan.
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