No Water, But Lots of Tests
I was recently at a social event when I mentioned to an educator friend that I was off to protest the Detroit water shut offs the following day. I also added that every educator should be there.
She paused and looked at me, and then asked, “Give me the nutshell explanation that connects water shut offs to educational issues.”
Without the nutshell part, here goes…
Some Context- Detroit Today
As a city on the forefront of what David Blacker calls the “neoliberal endgame,” Detroit is a fascinating, if tragic study. Detroit is under the rule of an Emergency Management. The laws allowing for the emergency manager werepromoted by ALEC legislation (sound familiar educators?) and have disenfranchised the voters of Detroit in favor of a ruler, Kevyn Orr, who has virtually no accountability in our so-called democracy. Upon acquiring this office, Orr almost immediately led Detroit into bankruptcy.
At the same time, Detroit Public Schools have been under Emergency Management since 2009. Clearly, this experiment isn’t working in Detroit. As quoted in Eclectablog:
“What the Detroit schools situation shows is that the problems in Detroit aren’t simply financial and they aren’t simply a matter of poor management. WithouNo Water, But Lots of Tests | educarenow: