Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

Democrats were unanimous in their opposition to the bills.

The package of six bills passed on votes ranging from 55-53 to 61-49.

LANSING — After more than 15 hours in session and intense back-room negotiations, the House of Representatives narrowly approved a Republican sponsored package of bills that is intended to fix the financial crisis facing the Detroit Public Schools.

Republicans said the bills will provide the district with the tools to improve education in the city. But Democrats were unanimous in their opposition to the bills and said not only were the bills a stark example of institutional racism, but also will result in the district being forced to come back to the Legislature in a few years because the funding and oversight were inadequate. The package of six bills passed on votes ranging fromm 55-53, the bare minimum needed for passage, to 61-49.

The House package splits the district in two – one to pay off the debt and the other district to take over the day-to-day operations of the district – and provides $500 million to the district to help pay off the DPS operating deficit, which has been estimated at $515 million. It also provides a $33 million loan to help with the transition to a new district. Gov. Rick Snyder proposed $200 million for those transition costs and the Senate and a coalition of district stakeholders concurred in that amount. The $500 million would come from annual tobacco settlement revenues that come into the state.

“This package not only solves the financial problems of the district, but focuses on the students and allows for every tool to be available for improvement,” said state Rep. Daniela Garcia, R-Holland.

But House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, said that without more adequate funding and oversight, the $500 million would be a waste of money.

“This does nothing to address the underlying causes of the problems facing the Detroit Public Schools,” he said. “This makes the problems worse not better.”

“These bills build on the foundation of institutional racism,” said Gay-Dagnogo, a former DPS teacher. “Five emergency managers created this deficit. Not teachers who sacrificed their lives and health. Not teachers who are going to get payday loans because they can’t pay their mortgages.”State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo noted that the district has been under the authority of a state-appointed emergency manager for 14 of the last 17 years.



Other provisions in the bills would prohibit unions from negotiating the school calendar and work schedules, would require all teachers and staff to reapply for their jobs and have compensation be approved based on performance rather than length of service. It also would allow uncertified teachers to teach in DPS.State Rep. Earl Poleski, R-Jackson, said such a claim “defies credibility because district will be relieved of that (debt payment) responsibility and that will put more money into the classroom which is precisely where it should be.”

It also included hefty financial sanctions on the district and teachers’ union and the teachers for striking, which was included after Detroit teachers, who were worried about payless paydays, called sick-outs on two days earlier this week, closing nearly all the schools in the district.

The school board would return to a locally elected body by Jan. 1, 2018 and a 7-member interim board would serve until then, appointed by the Detroit Mayor, who will get two appointments and the Governor, who would get five appointments. The interim board would hire the Superintendent of the district. A financial review commission would have oversight over the district.

Not included in the bill was a Detroit Education Commission, which would have authority over where some public and charter schools were located. Democrats offered amendment to address some of what they felt were shortfalls in the bills, but all the amendments failed. Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, characterized the DEC as city politics trumping education policy in an attempt to "choke out" charter schools from the city.

That was the subject of intense lobbying on both sides of the issue throughout the night and morning when the House wrapped up voting at 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

“There are a lot of conflicting pressures,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan after meeting individually with about 20 Republican lawmakers. “There are certainly a number of Republicans who believe in what we’re trying to do.”

What Detroit is backing is the Senate plan passed in March, which splits the district in two – one to pay off the accumulated operating debt in the district, estimated at $515 million, and the other to run the day-to-day operations of the district. The Senate plan also includes the Detroit Education Commission that would have authority over the placement of some public and charter schools.

"I want to make sure there’s a good solution for all the kids in Detroit, so that’s making sure debt is paid off and an elected school board is returned to the community," said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. "And that people who want to choose an option outside of that aren’t inhibited by something like the DEC and city politics.".The charter school community doesn’t support that version of the DPS fix and was lobbying just as hard for a House plan.

The package of bills is substantially different that the one passed by the Senate in March. Their version includes the Detroit Education Commission, intends that $715 million would be sent to DPS to help with the debt and pay for transition costs to the new district. It also doesn’t include the punitive provisions affecting teachers and their union.

Sen. Goeff Hansen, R-Hart, who shepherded the bills through the Senate, said he doesn’t think his colleagues in the Senate will buy into the House plan. If that’s the case, the package would end up in a conference committee to iron out the differences between the two packages. House Democrats were prepared to put up votes for the Senate-passed package of bills, but there wasn’t a majority of the 63-member Republican caucus willing to support that version of the legislation.

Democrats pointed the finger at West Michigan DeVos family, which created the Great Lakes Education Project which advocates for charter schools and is a generous contributor to Republican candidate campaigns.

“Your arms must be tired because you’re carrying the water for these charter groups,” said state Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, sent a letter to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, asking him to take action against Detroit teachers for the two days of sick-outs they held this week.

“It is my opinion and that of many of my colleagues,that the recent Detroit teacher 'sickouts' are in fact illegal strikes," he wrote in the letter. “When faced with blatant and repeated violations of state law by unions who are literally taking food out of children’s mouths, and denying them their constitutionally guaranteed right to a public education, bold action is required of all state elected officials."

The Detroit teachers returned to work Wednesday.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal