But Tom, Will You Campagin For The Parents?
on April 2nd, 2010 at 8:43 am
“Add nationally syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner’s name after Bill Cosby’s on the list of celebrities signing on to help Detroit Public Schools recruit and retain students.
Joyner broadcast his morning show Monday from Renaissance High School, telling listeners on WDMK-FM (105.9) that he was supporting the district’s ‘I’m In’ campaign to attract more students to the city’s schools.
‘It’s a desperate situation here,’ Joyner said, referring to the schools that are closing as enrollment shrinks. DPS emergency financial manager Robert Bobb joined him on air to talk about enrollment and his academic goals for the district.
‘We have too many schools and too few students,’ Bobb said, when asked about the district’s controversial plan to close 42 buildings by June. (more…)
Having too many schools and too few students isn’t the problem (unless you are on the bank roll of DPS). For parents, it all comes down to quality of education that they are receiving and the millions that they collectively have been doling out for decades.
Nearly a third of Detroit’s students — or about 51,000 — are attending charter schools and suburban public districts, causing enrollment and budgets at other districts to surge while Detroit Public Schools shrinks.
[...]
More than 25 districts in Metro Detroit had enrollment swings of more than 130 students last fall alone, according to a Detroit News analysis of enrollment changes between September 2005 and September 2006. That’s either a $1 million drop or $1 million bump in state aid. It could mean hiring teachers — or laying them off.
[...]
Once one of the largest districts in the country, Detroit is no longer among the 20 most populous. And with the flight of each child, the district watches another $7,500 walk away. All told, the state is spending nearly $380 million a year to educate Detroit children elsewhere.
[...]
The loss of students, blamed in part on fewer school-age children in the city, has forced the district to schedule the closure of 52 schools.
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Parents are choosing charter schools in the city and far beyond, along with public districts in Warren, Clinton Township, Ecorse and Oak Park as they demand better opportunities for their children.
Leda Reed has three kids at Charlotte Forten Academy, a nontraditional school for at-risk youth on the west side. She said she’s unlikely to switch to Detroit’s public schools.
‘Not if they don’t do anything about running the schools,’ she said.
Those feelings were echoed as recently as Friday by Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who told the Detroit Economic Club that he feared that a crisis of leadership in the schools threatened hopes for an economic rebound.
[...]
‘Parents are expecting quality schools, and it’s incumbent upon all of us to provide those schools,’ said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies.
While I’m quite aware of the fact that the parental role (or lack thereof) also has played a part in DPS’ downfall, surely there are enough parents in that city that care enough about their kids education to move them to school districts that are working.
Joyner’s one day campaign for DPS makes as about much sense as him campaigning for a mediocre soul food restaurant. The customers will ultimately decide with their feet the fate of that establishment.
And these parents have been making their vote known for a very long time.
