Detroit school board member vows to fight Snyder's plans
Gov. Rick Snyder's expected education proposal sparked a packed house at Thursday's Detroit Public Schools board meeting — and a pledge from one board member to fight it.
"Between May and June, we'll have to take drastic action," LaMar Lemmons said during the meeting at the Fisher Building.
The governor is planning to unveil an education proposal next week that would address Detroit Public Schools' massive debt and the city's fragmented public education landscape. One key component, sources say, calls for splitting the district in two: an "old" entity to pay off the debt using revenue from an existing tax and a "new" entity focused on teaching kids.
Lemmons, part of a 36-member Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, said he and other coalition members were briefed on some details of the proposal Thursday by the coalition's leaders, who met with Snyder earlier this week.
Lemmons said employees and their union representation and labor agreements would become part of the new DPS. The old entity and new entity would each have boards, he said, made up of appointees of both Snyder and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
"Even under this old (entity), he does not want to relinquish that to an elected board," he said, citing the potential disappearance of an elected school board among his chief concerns.
There would also be a third entity, the Detroit Education Commission, that would oversee some aspects of DPS, charter schools and the Education Achievement Authority state reform district.
Dave Murray, a spokesman for the governor, said late Thursday that details of the proposal were still being worked on and that an announcement is expected next week. He would not confirm or deny Lemmons' comments.
The proposal would require legislation, Lemmons said, with the governor's office banking on support from state Democrats.
The 47,500-student DPS has an annual deficit of just under $170 million. District officials have said the the total outstanding debt and long-term obligations top $2 billion. The district has been under a state-appointed emergency manager since 2009.
With news of the expected proposal reported earlier this week, several people said they came to Thursday's school board meeting looking for answers. More than two dozen members of the public filled a small conference room.
"I'm trying to understand what's going on," said Debra Pernell-Simmons, a retired DPS teacher from Farmington Hills. "It sounds like they're trying to privatize everything. I'm very upset."
Tijuana Morris of Detroit, who has three grandchildren and many nieces and nephews in DPS, said the district should return to local control.
"Everything should be controlled by the local school board," she said.
Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.Detroit school board member vows to fight Snyder's plans: