Detroit schools deal

[MWmetalhead]

I like the legislation that passed and got signed into law.

I had concerns regarding the so-called "Detroit Education Commission" that Snyder, Mayor Duggan, many Democrats, and many Senate Republicans openly supported. The DEC seemed like little more than a tool to give DPS an unfair advantage over charter schools and make it more difficult for parents to move their kids out of DPS. The DEC would've been little more than a political football. I think many of the local Dems wanted it because that body could've been used as a scapegoat if & when DPS's finances get jacked up again. Now, the locally elected school board will have to accept full responsibility for outcomes.

I also commend Speaker Cotter for keeping the House in session instead of adjourning to allow his members to attend the Crony Capitalism Conference on the island. (My heart just bleeds over the fact some of our elected officials lost out on an opportunity to rub elbows with the donor class.)

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/p ... /85647838/

[Matt]

Snyder and the Republican leadership played this perfectly. This had to happen the way that it did. It was great that charter schools won't be limited by union trash.

[MWmetalhead]

Speaker Cotter deserves far more credit than Snyder, although I will agree Snyder's closed door meeting with Senate Repubs was a deft and necessary maneuver.

What astonishes me is the number of Senate Repubs who strongly backed the DEC concept. The dude from Hart was literally in tears over the fact it wasn't included in the final legislation. I don't get it.

[Deleted User 8570]

Snyder and the Republican leadership played this perfectly. This had to happen the way that it did. It was great that charter schools won't be limited by union trash.

Because charters have that much better oversight, standards and results?

[MWmetalhead]

If the results are poor - the charter in all likelihood will fail due to lack of enrollment and will close. The idea is to preserve options for parents, which is precisely what this legislation did.

Many politicians want DPS to remain in existence "no matter what," give them a blank check, and hold them to lower standards than those they want applied to charter schools. They want DPS to receive preferential treatment.

There are only 40,000 to 45,000 students left in DPS. The vast majority of district school children left DPS years ago.

DPS is to public education what Kmart is to retail.