STATE OF THE CITY
Bing: It’s time to ‘shape a new legacy
FUNDING CUTS: Gov’s plan could be dire for city POLICE: Reform mandates will be met WATER: Detroit is still in charge of system
By STEVE NEAVLING FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to reduce funding to cities will have “potentially devastating consequences” to Detroit’s vulnerable turnaround, Mayor Dave Bing warned Tuesday in his second State of the City address.
Bing said the city’s “concrete but fragile gains” are at stake if the city loses tens of millions of dollars in annual state revenue sharing that funds basic services such as police and fire protection.
Despite that, Bing struck a positive, but firm tone Tuesday in a packed Orchestra Hall as he pledged to bring the Police Department and water and sewerage system into federal compliance by year’s end.
“For seven years, we have had officers working on compliance issues instead of patrolling the streets,” Bing said of a federal monitor mandating changes in the use of force and treatment of inmates. “We have paid millions in fees, and our reputation suffered every day that went by without progress.” Bing also addressed regional cooperation and an issue that has had city residents, those in the suburbs and legislators in Lansing talking for weeks: the future of the Detroit water and sewer system. After forging a deal to give the suburbs more say over water and sewage issues, Bing reassured residents Tuesday that the system will remain Detroit’s. “Detroit built this system; Detroit owns this system, and Detroit will manage this system going forward,” Bing said.
KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/Detroit Free Press
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing delivers his second State of the City address at Orchestra Hall on Tuesday. Bing struck a positive, but firm tone as he pledged to bring the Police Department and water and sewerage system into federal compliance by year’s end.
Bing must consider kids in city’s revival
My friend Janet just got a new job that requires her to relocate from Durham, N.C., to Nashville, Tenn. Now house-hunting, she said, “I’ll let you know where I’m living as soon as I figure out which school we’re picking.”
It is that simple. It is that important.
Families choose where they live and how they live based on the educational opportunities available to their children. So when Detroit Mayor Dave Bing gave his State of the City address Tuesday night — and didn’t mention education once until 25 minutes into a 32-minute speech, I was worried. Bing performed as expected. He highlighted public safety victories, such as homicides being down 15% and more officers being moved from desks to the street. And he did say that “we cannot afford to wait any longer and send another generation of young people out into the world unprepared to compete for jobs. When we make a case to the business community to reinvest in Detroit, education must be one of our top priorities. …” But that was it. No details, no new ideas, no discussion about a city school district that made national news this week. Twelve hours before Bing’s speech, I was invited onto “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” to discuss the dire straits of public education in Detroit. Twelve hours later, Bing talked about the new Detroit without dealing with the biggest elephant in the room, the first thing would-be residents who are or will be parents look at to determine whether to move. This despite his address coming two days after state officials told Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb to implement his deficit-reduction plan that could close half of the district’s schools. This despite his address coming a day after a state report saying that at more than half of Michigan’s high schools, fewer than 1 in 10 students will graduate this spring ready for college. Declining education is a Michigan problem. But by virtue of being the state’s largest, Detroit’s problem is always worse. You know the saying: If Michigan gets a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia. You cannot ignore pneumonia. The mayor, for all the hard work he has done, may be tilting at windmills in creating a vision for Detroit that doesn’t include a way to raise a generation that can keep Detroit working. Bing shared a quote from his friend, Bishop Charles Ellis, chairman of the massive Detroit Works neighborhood stabilization project. Ellis, quoting Nehemiah about rebuilding a city, said: “It was done because the people had a mind to work.” As I await my friend’s new address in Nashville, the one determined by where her children will attend school, I offer another quote, from Mark (10:13-14): “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” Before all else — the water department, the Woodward train, the changes in police and fire operations — before all else, we must take care of the children.
DPS credits Bobb’s overhaul for boost in grad rates
By ROBIN ERB and KRISTI TANNER-WHITE FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Detroit Public Schools has boosted its graduation rates to a four-year high because of aggressive academic expectations and leadership changes, according to district officials.
The higher graduation rates were announced Tuesday, one day after the state revealed that just two of 28 Detroit high schools examined had more than 1% of seniors who were college-ready.
Detroit’s district-wide graduation rate of 62% for last year’s graduating class compares with a 58% graduation rate four years earlier. DPS also noted that dropout rates decreased from 30% to 19% during that period. District officials credit the numbers to an ambitious overhaul of the district under emergency financial manager Robert Bobb, who has restructured dozens of schools, reassigned or hired 91 new principals and implemented ambitious academic requirements that expanded time for basic courses and increased access to college preparatory classes. Bobb, in a statement Tuesday, called the grad rates a “true testament” that reforms are working. But the district’s shifting enrollment also may have affected the grad rates. Enrollment grew at the highest-performing large high schools and shrank at some of the district’s lowest-performing high schools during the past four years, state data show. Overall, DPS enrollment shrank 14% in that period. Enrollment at standout high schools Cass Tech, Crockett and Renaissance — where 94% or higher of last year’s senior classes graduated — swelled by 12%, 53% and 22%, respectively. Meanwhile, the district hemorrhaged students at its lower-performing large high schools, including Kettering, Finney and Osborn — schools that graduated 60% or fewer of their senior classes last year. That doesn’t surprise Gary Miron, a professor of evaluation, measurement and research at Western Michigan University’s College of Education. So-called resource-rich parents — those who volunteer at schools and otherwise support their children’s education — are drawn to better schools, in turn, reinforcing those schools’ performance. If a lower-achieving school loses too many of its star students — and their positive influence on their peers — “its ability to respond is undermined,” Miron said.
