"Detroit -- The Detroit Public Schools turnaround team is developing a top-to-bottom academic reform plan aimed at bringing the troubled district on par with national average ACT, graduation and dropout rates by 2015.
The district, which has the lowest graduation rate among big cities, would require every high school student to take a college-level course, mandate pre-algebra for sixth-graders and pair pre-kindergarten students with reading tutors as part of an estimated $80 million dollar plan.
The ambitious plan comes as Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb is embroiled in a lawsuit with the school board over who has authority over academics.
Infighting, trips to Lansing and court battles accomplish nothing, said Anthony Adams, vice chairman of the school board, who hasn't seen Bobb's plan.
'We really need to come together in a collaborative fashion in order to produce the best plan for Detroit Public Schools,' he said."