Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is wasting no time on his first week on the job.
Vitti started working in the district on Tuesday, and has already planned dozens of meetings with school administrators, parents, teachers, principals, and state lawmakers to build relationships that could lead to policies that help Detroit children.
7 Action News caught up with him after he toured Maybury Elementary School. He said he knows what “priority one” is.
“We have to be fully staffed at the beginning of the year,” said Vitti.
Currently, the district is ending the school year with more than 200 unfilled teaching positions. As a result, some students have been going to school this year to sit in classrooms without teachers, other than rotating substitutes.
The district has hosted teacher hiring events, but convincing candidates to accept a position in a district where the starting pay is as low as $35,683 for a certified teacher is no easy task.
“At the end of the day our teachers deserve to make more than teachers in suburban districts. This work is much harder in our city than in suburban area. Our children bring a great deal of potential, but also challenges,” said Vitti.
He said he will not be able to make this happen right away, but it is the plan to offer competitive wages. He says he is focusing on developing and growing programs with the potential to increase enrollment, and therefore the budget.
Vitti says parents can expect diverse academic options catered to children’s dreams and success.
“Focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering & math), arts, music, and athletics, because we are going to focus on the whole child,” said Vitti.
Vitti grew up in Dearborn Heights, but most recently was superintendent of the nation’s 20th largest school district, the Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida.
