Detroit teachers and education employees picket at the School Center Building where a state-appointed corporate executive make decisions about public education. Thousands of members of the DFT and other unions participated. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
June 21, 2012
DPS plans to cut 1,900 jobs for fall
By JENNIFER CHAMBERS
The Detroit News
Detroit — Nearly 1,900 jobs are being slashed at Detroit Public Schools this upcoming school year as the district prepares to launch a new system of schools for a smaller set of students.
In its proposed $784 million budget, which begins July 1, DPS is dropping $150.8 million in personnel costs by shedding 1,889 workers, closing nine schools and turning another 15 schools over to the Education Achievement Authority. Union officials estimate 700 of the positions being cut are teachers.
At the same time, the district is losing millions of dollars in revenue tied to the anticipated loss of 15,000 DPS students — 11,000 of those to the EAA, a new statewide system for failing schools.
That leaves enrollment for the new school year at 51,927 students — in a city with an estimated 140,000 school-age children. The rest attend charter schools, private schools, the EAA or schools outside the district, or are dropouts.
Emergency Manager Roy Roberts, who has the ability to pass the budget without school board or union approval, described the changes in the spending plan Wednesday as part of a "new beginning" for DPS.
"What does it hold for the Detroit Public Schools community? A school district that not only looks different but truly is different," Roberts wrote in a budget summary.
Starting this fall, DPS students must choose between one of 89 traditional schools to be operated by the central administration or one of nine self-governing schools — a new model being tried by the district for 2,800 of its students.
Under the new self-governing model, decisions on curriculum, staffing and budgeting are made at the local level through principals and governing councils.
As it prepares for a new school year with fewer schools, fewer teachers and fewer students, DPS is making one thing bigger — class sizes for its older students.
The budget calls for larger class sizes for students in grades 4-12.
While the number of students in grades K-3 will remain the same at 25, class sizes for grades 4-5 will increase from 30 to 33 and for grades 6-12 will move from 35 to 38.
The increase comes at a time when DPS is promising individualized education plans for each of its students as part of the EAA, a new system of schools that focuses on innovation and more rigorous education choices to close the achievement gaps among students. Roberts heads both systems.
Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said the union will never agree to larger class sizes during new contract negotiations that are to begin next week.
"The community should be outraged at the prospect of such large classes. It's counterproductive," Johnson said. "We will never agree to this."
DPS parent Khadija Anderson said there is no way a teacher can control 38 students in a single classroom.
"The teachers can't give them special attention. They don't even have enough books for 38 students or services. That's overcrowding the school," Anderson said.
Staff halved in a decade
It's the second year in a row that DPS is cutting its budget by nearly a quarter, from $1.03 billion last year to $784 million for the new fiscal year. It cut $231 million from its budget for the 2011-12 year as well as 800 staff positions.
Revenues are projected at $755.7 million, with most funding coming from the state at $372 million. Federal funding is $233.5 million and local revenues — which include local property taxes and a special education millage — are $150 million.
As its student population has declined by 100,000 in the last decade, DPS officials say they have reduced employees at a consistent rate. Once among the largest employers in the city, DPS has shrunk its work force the last decade from 18,667 in 2004, to 13,633 in 2008, to 8,502 in 2012.
EAA officials have said they need about 500 teachers fortheir schools this fall, but laid-off DPS teachers would have to apply for those jobs.
Helen Moore, a community activist in Detroit, said massive staff cuts by the district are not the reforms needed for the city's schoolchildren.
"With 1,900 cuts, there is nobody left in the system," Moore said. "It's a travesty of justice for our children. They are dismantling our school system as we speak."
Student decline may slow
Detroit demographer Kurt Metzger said about 9,000 school-age children will leave Detroit during the next five years if no one moves in or out. But the reality is, many families continue to leave, and very few if any new families move into the city, he said.
DPS is not likely to hemorrhage 10,000 students a year as it has in the past, Metzger said. The decline will be slower every year, but it will continue as parents make choices about education.
"You pretty much have population where those who could afford to leave have left. With future school closings and the EAA, will you have more parents move to charters?" Metzger said. "We are having fewer births, and you will end up with the kids that can't go, the parents can't leave. And the question is: Will the parents choose DPS?"
The budget will be presented at a public hearing at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Renaissance High School and must be approved by June 30.
jchambers@detnews.com
(313) 222-2269
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