On Tuesday morning, as he testified before state representatives, Detroit Public Schools Transition Manager Steven Rhodes gave lawmakers a deadline.
He said he sat down with financial experts and they told him the district will be unable to pay staff after April 8.
The retired judge told them if they don’t approve financial help, DPS will be forced into bankruptcy.
"My role is to help you all understand the urgency of the $50 million supplemental appropriation," said Rhodes.
But, that’s a short term fix.
He and the district’s new interim superintendent Alycia Meriweather also asked for a long term solution.
They want a passage of legislation providing more than $700 million to help the district pay down its debt.
Republican Representative Mike McCready of Birmingham asked why Rhodes' contract bans him from recommending bankruptcy.
The retired bankruptcy judge says the court would find the state liable for the vast majority of DPS debt. It wouldn’t go away.
Lawmakers pushed back. Republican Representative Daniella Garcia from Holland asked how she could possibly justify to her voters giving hundreds of millions to DPS.
"There's still taxpayers in my community and they are telling me, 'well if we give $715 million to Detroit Public Schools then those are programs that will have to be cut in our community,'" said Garcia.
