Nearly All Detroit Schools Closed For Second Day Due To Teacher Sick-Outs
DETROIT (WWJ) - Nearly all of Detroit's public schools are closed for a second day Tuesday amid a district-wide sick-out that was apparently organized by the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
Just before 7:20 a.m. Tuesday, a spokesperson for Detroit Public Schools said in an email that 94 of the district's 97 schools would be closed as a result of the sick-out. The three schools that remain open are Breithaupt Career and Technical Center, Diann Banks-Williamson Educational Center, and Beard Early Learning Neighborhood Center.
A State House committee is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the DPS reform legislation.
The sick-out wasn't a surprise. Ivy Bailey, interim DTF president, sent an email to educators on Monday night, saying that they are not expected to be in the classroom on Tuesday.
Ninety-four of Detroit's public schools were closed Monday after the teachers union urged members to call out sick following a weekend announcement that the district wouldn't be able to pay its teachers starting this summer. About 46,000 students are enrolled in the district's schools.
The move by the Detroit Federation of Teachers was announced Sunday, a day after Detroit Public Schools' transition manager said the district would have no money to continue paying teachers this summer without further funding from the state.
"There's a basic agreement in America: When you put in a day's work, you'll receive a day's pay," Bailey said in a statement. "DPS is breaking that deal. Teachers want to be in the classroom giving children a chance to learn and reach their potential.
"Unfortunately, by refusing to guarantee that we will be paid for our work, DPS is effectively locking our members out of the classrooms."
Supporters say the teachers are simply fighting for what they're owed, but critics say the sick-outs amount to an illegal strike. House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, said the latest round of sick-outs pushed the total number of instructional hours lost in Detroit to more than 1,000,000 this school year alone.
"The Detroit Federation of Teachers is once again putting the wants of adults ahead of the needs of children," Cotter said in a statement. "These egotistical teachers have lashed out at the children who rely on them and accomplished nothing but disrupting their students' education. Their selfish and misguided plea for attention only makes it harder for us to enact a rescue plan and makes it harder for Detroit's youngest residents to get ahead and build a future for themselves."
Dr. Richard James, who teaches business and marketing at Cass Tech High School, has a message for parents and others who say teachers are putting themselves ahead of their students.
"I've been teaching for over 20 years, I get to work at 6:30 every morning and I leave at 4, 5, 6 o'clock at night. So, if I didn't care about kids and the other teachers here at different schools didn't care about the kids, we wouldn't be doing the things we do," James told WWJ's Mike Campbell.
Kamari, a junior at Martin Luther King High School said actions speak louder than words.
"If you was in a district like Sterling Heights, or anything like that, they would not have people doing this. I mean, they would not have teachers working without pay," he told WWJ's Vickie Thomas. "But they just think DPS, being the biggest district in the state, they think they can treat the teachers any kind of way. And how can the students learn when there's classes of 50, we got rodents running around and we ain't got any text books? This s*** is crazy."
Dave Hodge, who buses kids from Detroit to a private charter school in Southfield, stands behind the teachers but admits the sick-outs are disruptive beyond the classroom.
"It's not only affecting the students and the teachers, it affects everybody. ... The drivers, if they're not out there and those wheels are not turning, they're not getting a paycheck, too," Hodge told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "What about the custodians? They're not going in there and cleaning up anything. So, you know, you really and truly need to take a look at this and the state government really needs to get this straightened out so that these kids can get on the straight and narrow and do what they need to do."
In March, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law emergency funding that is keeping the district operating through the end of the school year as the state Legislature considers a $720 million restructuring plan that would pay off the district's enormous debt.
Former bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, who was appointed this year to oversee the district, also said Saturday that DPS would be unable to fund summer school or special education programs after June 30.
