Nearly Half Of Detroit Schools Overcrowded
Too many students and not enough teachers: a big problem that's still facing the Detroit Public School District.
WWJ Newsradio 950's Florence Walton reports the district was not prepared for an overflow of students at some schools -- and the high number of teacher's leaving because of the state retirement program.
59 of the 140 DPS schools have more students than they can handle. This leaves some classrooms overcrowded, and some without permanent teachers, as students enter the 4th week of school.
Robert Bobb, the DPS financial director, attributes the problem to a retirement program.
"A significant number of teachers retire under the state teacher retirement incentive program, and we still have retirements after school opens" he said.
Bobb hopes to level out classrooms by midweek. He has exhausted his teacher recall list that goes back to 2007, and now plans to have a major teacher surge program going forward.
But not all Detroit education officials agree with Robert Bobb's assessment of the situation.
Detroit Federation of Teachers President Keith Johnson criticized Bobb for not heading the union's warning to begin recalling teachers this summer when it was clear that a large number of teachers would retire in Detroit.
For now, Detroiters must wait and hope that balance will be restored to the schools as soon as possible.
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