Detroit kids have better options, just not in Detroit

Associated Press

DETROIT

Long frustrated by failed efforts to turn around Michigan’s worst public schools, top Republican officials decided it was time for a drastic measure: Shut down 38 schools that were ranked continually in the bottom 5 percent statewide and shift their students to better options elsewhere.

It’s not a new idea. School closings have been ordered in get-tough initiatives in other places in recent years, such as New York City and Denver, to get kids into higher-quality environments.

But instead of a solution, Michigan’s move has triggered panic by suggesting sending thousands of inner-city kids 40 to 50 miles away. And officials find themselves in a quandary again about the sheer scale of the state’s education dilemma, especially in Detroit.

After notifying parents in January of schools that could be closed this summer, Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration discovered that the superior schools that supposedly could absorb the 18,000 displaced students mostly don’t exist – at least, not anywhere nearby. Children at 25 schools in Detroit were directed to schools that in some cases were closer to the Ohio border than to Detroit.

Unlike districts in rural states where schools can be far apart, Detroit doesn’t have buses for high-school students. And many low-income parents don’t have cars. Kids typically use mass transit.

“Right now I have no clue. I’m in a puzzle like everybody else,” said Roquesha O’Neal, whose two children attend Osborn High School on the city’s east side. “We’re just waiting for the state to tell us what’s the next move.”

State School Reform Officer Natasha Baker, who informed the parents of the proposed school closures, said the students shouldn’t stay where they are.

“It’s important for kids to have access to college, careers and jobs once they leave high school. They can’t do that if they’re struggling with reading and math,” she said.

State officials are pondering what to do, but it appears most if not all of the closings won’t happen anytime soon. School superintendents will get more chances for improvement, and the GOP-led Legislature will consider how to revise the 7-year-old school law to provide a more realistic blueprint for turnarounds.