A recent article on the Michigan Radio web page describes Gov Snyder's plans "to 'fix' Detroit’s education problems once and for all"
(http://michiganradio.org/post/education-detroit-has-changed-radically-recent-years-its-about-change-even-more).
Aside from the fact that many of these "problems" were created in large part due to the Governor's mismanagement of education in the state, and specifically in Detroit, and because of
the systematic starving of resources for the state's schools, the ideas included in this article were also deeply offensive to anyone who lives in, works in or cares about Detroit and the
DPS.
1. Detroit's schools don't need to be "fixed." They need to be cared for. And they need to be cared for by those that care about them the most, and for the right reasons--the parents, students, teachers and citizens of Detroit. Expecting the same folks who wanted to sell the art off the walls of the Detroit Museum of Art to "fix" the DPS is like expecting a burglar to lock the doors after he cleans out your house. If you really want to help Detroit's schools, then return control of those schools to the elected school board, administration and teachers in Detroit and get rid of the EAA...now.
2. Hiring the architect of New Orleans' "Recovery School District" to fix DPS is like hiring the CEO of BP to clean up an oil spill. As Professors Miron and Pedroni point out in the article, the "experiment" in New Orleans has not worked, and is not likely to work in Detroit either. It was based on faulty premises, was untested and never vetted properly. Perhaps most alarmingly, it was truly an "experiment"--an experiment conducted on the children and families of New Orleans, without their knowledge or approval. The full extent of the damage created by this experiment won't be known for years, but we do know it has been spectacularly unsuccessful, and certainly is not worth bringing to Detroit.
3. You don’t “scale up” schools based on design templates. That’s a business practice, not an educational practice—and schools are not businesses. Schools are unique, organic and different,
depending on where they are, who attends them, and who works in them. Just as a house in Alaska may serve some of the same functions as a house in Hawaii, they don't look the same, aren't built
the same, and would be ineffective and inefficient if transported from one place to the other. You “scale up” a fast food franchise. You don’t “scale up” schools.
So, I'd like to offer some unsolicited advice for Gov. Snyder: as a businessman, you know that one of the first rules of crisis management is that when you find yourself in a hole, stop
digging. Your policies have led to a manufactured crisis in Detroit, and your solution appears to be looking at one of the few cities in the country whose schools are in worse shape than
Detroit's and bringing the former superintendent from New Orleans to Detroit. You are fortunate to lead a state with some of the nation's finest teacher education programs, and yet ignore
the advice from the experts in those programs. Drs. Pedroni and Miron have been unusually blunt and frank with their advice on your plan--you would do well to listen to their ideas and
suggestions.
You are, after all, paying them for their expertise.
