Emergency managers shop schools to charter operators; teachers fear future
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| This is the Death Part... |
Detroit — Thousands of laid-off Michigan public school teachers don't know if they will have jobs waiting for them when classes resume this fall in their state-run districts.
Detroit is expected to slice 800 teachers from its ranks by recalling only 3,300 of 4,100 teachers who received layoff notices earlier this year. Meanwhile, their counterparts in Muskegon Heights and Highland Park must wait until companies are selected to run them as charter systems.
Who and how many get hired is up to the charter operators.
"Right now, they're just laid off," Michigan Education Association spokesman Doug Pratt said of teachers in the cash-strapped districts. "This is creating huge uncertainties for these educators."
State-appointed emergency managers have shopped Muskegon Heights schools in West Michigan and the Highland Park district near Detroit to interested charter operators as part of plans to pull the educational systems from near-fiscal ruin.
Muskegon Heights has a projected $12 million accumulated deficit. Highland Park Schools' budget deficit soared from $6.6 million to more than
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120708/SCHOOLS/207080310#ixzz202LYkvK4