The further hemorrhaging of Detroit—city to shut 34 public schools

The closures are part of a plan to cut more than $560 million in expenses from the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) budget over the next five years. District officials predict that enrollment will drop by about 40,000 students during this period and say another 60 to 75 schools will need to be closed. It is estimated this latest round of cuts will save about $10 million next year.

Detroit is a city under assault. City workers and residents are still reeling from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s announcement last month that massive cuts were on the agenda to counteract a projected $230 million shortfall in the city’s budget for fiscal year 2005-2005, which begins July 1. The mayor outlined a sweeping plan to cuts jobs, pay and benefits for city employees, reduce city services and increase taxes targeting working families and small businesses.

School officials have not indicated how many school employees will lose their jobs as a result of the new school closures. When the cuts were initially broached last November, 4,000 jobs were projected to be at stake.

Higher education in Michigan is also under attack. As part of her proposed state budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm announced on Thursday a $30 million cut in aid to the state’s public universities.

Detroit Public Schools CEO Kenneth Burnley defended the new school closures as a sound business decision. “We now have half as many students as we did in 1970 and nearly the same number of buildings,” Burnley said. “From a cost standpoint, it doesn’t make sense. With these school closings, our district will become more efficient and more effective.”

For the tens of thousands of students and their parents affected by the closings, however, lives will be turned upside down. Twenty-three of the schools to be shut are elementary schools, with students generally aged 10 and younger, who will now be forced to travel farther from their neighborhoods to attend classes.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/detr-f12.shtml