When Roy Roberts became the emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools, he took on the nearly impossible challenge of turning around a system that wasn’t doing justice to the nearly 70,000 students currently enrolled in the district. However, instead of shying away from the challenge, Roberts took the proverbial bull by the horns and embarked on a major shake-up that is slated to occur during the next school year. While some are applauding Roberts’ efforts, others are concerned about what the changes will mean to students, teachers, and the neighborhoods that many of these schools call home.
School Closures Just the Beginning
From overcrowding in Detroit Public School classrooms to facing bankruptcy, the challenges abound for this Michigan school district. According to the Huffington Post, Roberts plans to close nine public schools next year and convert four more into charters in an effort to repair a broken system. This move is predicted to save Detroit Public Schools $7.5 million in annual operating costs – money that Roberts hopes to put towards educating children rather than maintaining empty classrooms.
"Rather than continue to support buildings that are far underutilized…we will consolidate,” Roberts was reported saying at Huffington Post. “We have been using an outdated educational model that we must discard,” Roberts added.
The Detroit Free Press reports that by this fall, Detroit Public Schools will be downsized to around 50,000 students – down from the nearly 70,000 currently in the school district and