Most Detroit schools close as teachers stage sick-out

Associated Press

DETROIT

Nearly all of Detroit’s public schools were closed Monday and more than 45,000 students missed classes after about half the district’s teachers called out sick to protest the possibility that some of them won’t get paid over the summer if the struggling district runs out of cash.

The latest in a series of sick-outs shuttered 94 of 97 schools for the day as 1,562 teachers heeded their union’s call to stay home. The move by the Detroit Federation of Teachers came after Detroit Public Schools’ transition manager said the district would have no money to continue paying teachers this summer without further funding from the state.

The state had approved $47.8 million in emergency money in March to keep the 46,000-student school system operating, but that amount only pays the district’s bills through June 30. Detroit Schools also would be unable to fund summer school or special-education programs after June 30. The state Legislature is considering a $720 million restructuring plan that would pay off the district’s enormous debt.

Teachers can opt to receive their pay over the course of the school year or spread over a full 12 months. It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the district’s approximately 3,000 educators chose to have their biweekly pay spread out over 26 weeks. Some say they live paycheck to paycheck and need the money to get through July and August, before the next school year starts.