“While I appreciate the gesture of House Republicans attempting to offer a solution to the issues facing Detroit Public Schools (DPS), it is disheartening to see them offer so many of the same tired ideas. The solutions being advanced currently will neither address the immediate needs of our students, nor include actual community input from the people they will be impacting.
“It is equally frustrating that DPS would not be returned to local authorities until the budget has been balanced for 10 consecutive years — a ridiculous feat considering that the deficit has already been increasing every year since the state took over.
“Most frightening of all, however, is the gutting of the ‘Public Employee Relations Act,’ which, rather than protecting employees and their relationship with the school district, would allow the ‘new’ DPS district to make unilateral decisions on behalf of district employees, essentially dissolving teachers unions in the area.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and Governor’s Office to find a comprehensive, sustainable, bipartisan solution for the children of the Detroit Public Schools.”