Former US bankruptcy judge to be new emergency manager of Detroit schools
Retired US bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes told a meeting of teachers and other school employees Wednesday that he was assuming emergency manager powers over the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and would complete the restructuring of the school district by midsummer.
Rhodes was brought in as the honored guest of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, which arranged the meeting after discussions with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on Monday. The meeting was the latest effort by the DFT, backed by the national American Federation of Teachers, to contain opposition by teachers, including a wave of sickout protests that sparked student walkouts, against state-appointed emergency managers who have attacked teachers’ jobs and living standards while funneling more money to for-profit charter schools.
During the 2013-2014 Detroit bankruptcy, Rhodes established his reputation as a highly political judge capable of posturing as an even-handed arbiter and employing the services of the trade unions while ruthlessly imposing the dictates of the Wall Street bondholders. In a ruling that set a national precedent, the judge approved the gutting of city worker pensions in direct violation of the state constitution.
On Wednesday, Rhodes told the meeting that he “was not the dictatorial type” and was “immensely concerned” with overcrowded classes and the lack of school supplies that prohibited teachers from doing their jobs. While it was true he was an emergency manager—who would be paid $12,000 a month, like the previous emergency manager—he would be the school district’s “last emergency manager.” This was because “it is time to return local control over the Detroit public schools,” he said.
Under the bipartisan plan being debated in state legislature, a restructured school district will in fact be overseen by an unelected Financial Review Commission, similar if not the same as the one that Rhodes installed over the city of Detroit. The commission will have veto power over all spending decisions even after an elected school board is restored.
Rhodes made a pitch for the legislation, under which the current school district will be dissolved into an “old DPS”—tasked with liquidating debt—and Former US bankruptcy judge to be new emergency manager of Detroit schools - World Socialist Web Site: