What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit
Detroit Public Schools (DPS) "Emergency Manager" Roy Roberts stepped down from his position on May 2. During his announcement, Roberts said that his instructions when he took the job were to "blow up the district and dismantle it."
"Emergency managers" were tasked with fixing local governments in Michigan after the state declared a financial emergency.
The decimation of public school districts is nothing new in the world of slash-and-burn education reform, but his candidness is extremely rare. The justification for closing neighborhood public schools while opening publicly subsidized, privately profitable charter schools is constantly changing. Currently, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is switching between "utilization" and "achievement" as reasons to close 61 public schools, about 10 percent of the district. These reforms will effectively "blow up" and "dismantle" the district without ever using those words.
What does Detroit have to do with Chicago Public Schools?
Chicago's current schools CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, worked in the Emergency Manager Office in Detroit from 2009 to 2011. During her tenure, DPS closed 59 schools and cut 30 percent of the workforce. Toward the end of Byrd-Bennett's tenure in Detroit as "Chief Academic and Accountability officer," DPS announced its "Renaissance Plan 2012," which included creating 41 charters, making 29 percent of district run by private interests.
That looks like the perfect canvas for "blowing up" and "dismantling" a district.
Byrd-Bennett has a history of swooping into a district and leaving it dismantled. When leading the Cleveland Public Schools, Byrd-Bennett cut hundreds of teacher jobs and closed Kenzo Shibata: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit:
