East Lansing Public Schools

Why Gov. Rick Snyder's Detroit reforms get the bipartisan support that Gov ...

When Gov. John Engler sought to turn around the Detroit Public Schools by ousting the Board of Education in 1999, the move was seen as a racially tinged, hostile take over.

But the plan Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled Monday is picking up bipartisan support, with some Democrats and unions backing the effort – and others saying nothing at all, which means they are not openly opposing the reform package.

Snyder is creating a reform authority that will oversee the least successful Detroit schools, granting principals more autonomy in selecting teachers, forming a partnership with Eastern Michigan University for training and working with business and community leaders to fund two-year college scholarships along the lines of the Kalamazoo Promise.

The Republican governor's news conference announcing the changes included a video link to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who said both he and President Obama strongly support the effort. Members of the Democrat-controlled state Board of Education also attended the event and are backing the plan, along with state Rep. Thomas Stallworth, D-Detroit.

Detroit unions representing teachers, staff and teachers' aides issued a combined statement late Monday afternoon offering tentative support, though MEA leaders told me they're waiting until they can see all the details before taking a position.

Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer , D-East Lansing, has been a vocal Snyder critic, but also refrained from criticizing the Detroit school reforms.

“The Senate Democrats’ first priority has always been fighting to give our kids the best education possible,” she wrote in an email. “I welcome the governor to that conversation and look forward to reviewing his proposal to overhaul troubled schools.”

But the group Michigan Democrats for Education Reform called Snyder's moves “A positive step to address the dire public education system in Detroit.”

Director Harrison Blackmond said it might be a little early to declare there is complete Democratic buy-in to the plan.

“Some of my Democrat colleagues have their finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing before they decide what to do,” he said.

But Blackmond said Snyder has some things working for him that Engler didn't have – and is approaching the situation in a more inclusive way.

No one likes that the state's largest system was described as “Ground Zero in American schools” by Duncan, and called “a national disgrace” in a Dan Rather documentary.

The State News :: School's Out?

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Of the roughly 250 students enrolled at Red Cedar, the children come from 49 countries and speak 46 different languages. Flags from dozens of countries drape the walls, and the lunch menu is printed in pictures to overcome the dozens of language barriers.

Teachers continuously cope with classes where many children speak little or no English, attaching vocabulary words to images so the students can understand at least pieces of each lesson.

The committee was tasked with proposing new, more cost-efficient building configurations as the district faces monetary constraints.

The board likely will make a final decision on the fate of the schools around Labor Day, School Board President Rima Addiego said.

Two of the three final proposals involved closing two elementary schools, and some parents fear that Red Cedar will be on the chopping block.

At the school board and city council’s joint discussion of the facilities review in May, students with children rely on the school, especially international students who do not have cars to drive their children.

“They do walk to school; their parents can’t drive them,” she said.

Jean Bronson, who has been working part-time on a horticulture degree since 2005, said she repeatedly wrote letters to Superintendent David Chapin and rallied others for letter-writing campaigns as well. She also made a Facebook group called Save Red Cedar Elementary.

“Even though my children are graduating from Red Cedar, I was really upset when I heard (the school could be closed) last year for the first time,” she said. “There were a lot of people that were upset.”

Still, Bronson said she found it hard to organize efforts, as many parents are busy going to school and working other jobs.

Ribianszky said she felt Red Cedar was at a disadvantage because of this factor.

“I feel like a lot of the outrage and sense of urgency died down because Superintendent Chapin keeps emphasizing that nothing is going to happen, we haven’t made any decision,” she said. “But I can’t get it out of the back of my mind that Red Cedar is still in jeopardy of being closed.”

The final decision as to what action the district will take ultimately comes down to the school board as a whole.

Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education

Industrial education, typical experiments described and interpreted

East Lansing, Michigan, Michigan State University, James Madison College, Capital Area Transportation Authority, East Lansing High School

The American school board journal

General announcement of the East Lansing Public Schools, 1921-1922