Detroit teachers to return to classes

Associated Press

DETROIT

Teachers who closed Detroit schools for two days by calling out sick announced Tuesday that they would return to the classroom after receiving assurance from the district’s manager that they would be paid.

The move by the Detroit Federation of Teachers came hours after Michigan lawmakers advanced a $500 million plan to restructure Detroit public schools by creating a new district.

The vote was intended to ease teachers’ fears that they might not get paid if the district runs out of money. But the union quickly blasted the legislation endorsed by the House Appropriations Committee. It would forbid existing labor agreements from transferring to the new district and restrict collective bargaining over work schedules and school calendars.

Terrence Martin, the union’s executive vice president, said the union was “truly outraged” by the proposal. He said the measures heading to the full House “feel like and look like anti-teacher bills” and differ radically from legislation approved in March by the Senate that he described as “workable.”

“It’s just a testament to how far apart lawmakers are right now. ... “[It’s] very discouraging to our membership,” Martin said. “We’ll continue to fight.”

The union said it would encourage members to go back to school today based on discussions with the district’s state-appointed transitional manager, Steven Rhodes.

The sick-out idled 45,000 children and presented yet another crisis with racial overtones for a governor and Legislature already engrossed in the water emergency in Flint, a majority-black city like Detroit, where many residents have complained about being treated like second-class citizens.