DPS: The Problems With Detroit Public Schools

During the recent recession of 07-09, California public schools had a massive loss of funding. Because of this, over 30,000 teachers were laid off. This led to larger classroom sizes , which resulted in a less personal learning experience for students, something that is very important for younger ages. Student programs and classes like art and music were also cut. Tuition went up for students in college and college graduates with teaching degrees were unable to find jobs.

Schools are over populated here, 40-50 pupils in one classroom, learning process is not easy. Because of that it is impossible for the teachers to pay attention to every student in the classroom and to get almost the same result, because of that many pupils just attending the classroom without any interest in studying or learning.

Since last spring, Philadelphia school district leaders have been sounding the alarm about this year’s fiscal budget. Even after months of discussions and headlines, schools have opened with fewer resources than last year. On March 28th the School Reform Commission approved a lump sum budget which showed a need for an additional $220 million in revenue in order to provide schools with same resources as the “wholly insufficient” 2013-14 school year (McCorry). There will be many inadequate funding impacts on the quality of the education. Classroom resources would be stripped to untenable levels. The district would reduce as much as $2.2 million funding to the districts’ multiple pathways to graduation program which affects estimated 300 students. Another $1.5 million could be reduced from the elimination of preparation and professional development time for teachers at the district’s high needs promise academies. The district’s building maintenance budget could have reduction in amount of $9.6 million. Schools will be cleaned less frequently as a result. Building maintenance will also be curtailed as a result. District’s school police budget could also have reduction in amount of $2.4 million. School police officer vacancies will be unfilled, leaving an additional 27 elementary schools to share an officer.

It seems the biggest problem in the CPS district, more specifically Paul Robeson High School, is funding issues. With the district and the school already in debt, classroom funding, not to mention funding for important after school activities and fine arts classes, is very limited. Not only does this make it hard for teachers to have the appropriate resources for helping children learn, but it also makes things like Teaching Union Strikes very likely. Children are constantly being put on the backburner when money is on the line, which defeats the entire purpose of the public schooling

The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While

After several years of success, the required cuts along with economic woes rendered Proposal A largely ineffective and unable to properly fund Michigan’s schools, creating a massive problem in the way Michigan school districts are to be funded, as well as developing a need for new educational policy to supplement or overhaul Proposal A and the Michigan educational system.

There has been many attempts to solving this problem, on all different types of levels. Local levels with committees and coalitions such as The Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren have been striving towards a solution. For a strong coalition, there needs to be adequate human resources. This means the number of people involved and the power of the people involved (Graham, 181). The Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren has regular citizens such as concerned parents, people on the school board, and also people with connections to higher powers. On the state level, there is Governor Rick Snyder putting more emphasis and promoting more blue collared jobs that only require skills training. Since this problem exists throughout the nation and crosses state

Schools is terrible. The teachers of Detroit aren’t exactly helping with the state of Detroit’s

There are efforts being made by Rick Snyder who, “has supported a plan to put public money toward a $650 million downtown development project…The project would create 8,300 jobs” (Drape). While this creates thousands of jobs, it still places the city millions more in debt. Shikha Dalmia wrote that, “Detroit’s unemployment rate hovers around 18.5 percent. Median household income is barely half of the U.S. average. Almost 60 percent of the city’s (predominantly black) children live below the poverty level.” The children of Detroit have to suffer the most. Living below poverty level means that children will have less food to eat, which might cause them to not be able to concentrate in school. By this happening, it causes children to not be prepared to apply for the jobs that are available in Detroit due to the inadequate education level required. With unpaid taxes and high unemployment rates, it is no surprise that Detroit also has a high crime and murder

Chicago Public Schools are the fourth largest district in the U.S and one of the lowest performing in the U.S. The school system in Chicago is struggling not only with student performance, but also with the large amount of debt the school has and the fight to come to an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union.

The Chicago Public School system was slow to integrate even after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling of 1954. It took much protesting, federal involvement and public outrage to finally bring about more racial equality for the students of Chicago. While the Brown v. Board of Education ruling is thought of as being the reason any racial equality was brought to schools after such long hardships for the African American students, Chicago had a difficult time bringing the ruling to fruition and federal involvement was needed. The Chicago Public School’s Desegregation Consent Decree of 1980 was the order that changed the public schools for the good. Chicago’s story of integration is different than those of other big cities in the U.S, due to the federal government 's large involvement. Through the years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, the School Superintendents changed and school desegregation was faced in different ways. This essay examines what led to the federal government 's involvement with the Chicago Public School system’s desegregation plan. As well as the effects of desegregation on all students in Chicago.

Detroit is a very well-known and diverse city. “Somewhere behind its neglected, graffiti covered skyscrapers are charming reminders of a city that was once among the world’s wealthiest” (Gray). This city has been through a lot. Detroit was first founded by the French in 1701 and then used as a fur trade post. Jumping a little in the future, it has had riots and protest for equal rights among its busy streets. Detroit is also known as the Motor City. “By the mid-twentieth century one in every six working Americans was employed directly or indirectly by the automotive industry” (Sugrue). Yet after everything this city has endured Detroit is thought of as a place of fear. It has a lot of history and has a lot to offer if people would let

Most of the other problems the schools face are directly related to the funding issue. Buildings are run down and sometimes mobile because of the lack of finances. No child wants to go to school in a dreary building that smells bad. It makes it hard to concentrate and hard to study in buildings such as this. Every school has some type of sport being played by the students. For some, sports are the only reason they do not drop out of school. However, if finances are not available then the school should focus mostly on the education of all of its students as a whole, not just a few who think they cannot make it without sports. Without the financial issues, schools have even more problems. School violence is becoming more and more common. School should be a place where children come to learn and be with their peers, in a very good environment. It should not be a place where children are afraid to go because of the anger or hurt of other children. This is probably the major issue of the public today.

Local control of school districts has proven to have mixed results. Local control allows districts to experiment and keeps problems from one district affecting another. At the same time however, local control keeps good ideas from spreading quickly. Local districts have produced a diverse range of possible solutions to the problems that public schools face. Unfortunately, the huge amount of diversity that is present from district to district has also made progress harder to measure.

In today’s economic environment even the wealthiest states and districts are having to cut funding for education, while districts which were already teetering on the edge are now in an even worse position. In some schools children have to face not having enough books, paper for copies, severe overcrowding,