The deadline is just 29 days away. If aid is not supplied, Detroit Public Schools will be unable to pay staff past April 8.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers President Ivy Bailey is calling on lawmakers to act, saying kids need schools to attend, food to eat, and workers can’t work for free. They have to take care of their families.
We learned of that key date Wednesday as DPS Transition Manager and retired Judge Steven Rhodes and interim Superintendent Alycia Meriweather testified in Lansing.
Rhodes called on lawmakers to approve a plan to give the district $50 million to stay open and another plan to--over the course of 10 years--give Detroit Public Schools more than $700 million to help it restructure and pay down half a billion dollars in debt.
One lawmaker asked if teachers would call for a strike at a union meeting this afternoon.
Ousted union president Steven Conn sent 7 Action News a press release saying he will ask for a strike vote at that meeting.
But Rhodes said he has talked to teachers- and there is no support for a strike.
Rhodes just recently replaced former Emergency Manager Darnell Earley - who was leading when there were numerous sickouts protesting conditions in schools.
Rhodes said not to criticize anything that was done in the past, but he has brought a policy of always talking to those impacted by his decisions before making them - and that team mentality makes a difference.
