Less than two months after the Michigan legislature approved $48.7 million in temporary funding for Detroit Public Schools, the president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers says there isn't enough money to pay teachers through the summer.
In an email sent to teachers, DFT President Ivy Bailey says the district only has enough cash to make payroll through June 30.
"After that point, the district will not be able to continue paying employees unless our advocacy to secure funds through legislation is successful."
The $48.7 million approved in March was a stopgap measure while the GOP governor presses legislators to enact a $720 million restructuring plan to split the district and pay off $515 million in operating debt over a decade. The 46,000-student district has been under state financial management for seven years and is burdened with declining enrollment and low morale that has led to teacher "sick-outs" in recent months.
"When it first came to our attention in March that DPS would not have enough cash to make payroll through the end of the school year, we asked and were told that the $48.7 million in supplemental funding requested by the district administration would include money necessary to pay school employees who elected to have their pay spread over 26 pay periods for the year," Bailey wrote in the email. "We just received information that this is not the case and we are outraged."
According to the email, DPS Transition Manager Steven Rhodes informed Bailey of the cash shortage on Saturday. She said they will meet Monday with leadership and financial officials to find a solution.
The DFT will be reaching out to teachers who are on a 26-check pay program in the coming days, according to the email, and hope to have a solution to the debt crisis before June 30.
The entire email reads:
Sisters and Brothers,
When it first came to our attention in March that DPS would not have enough cash to make payroll through the end of the school year, we asked and were told that the $48.7 million in supplemental funding requested by the district administration would include money necessary to pay school employees who elected to have their pay spread over 26 pay periods for the year.
We just received information that this is not the case and we are outraged.
The district has enough cash to make payroll through June 30, 2016 for all employees, but after that point, the district will not be able to continue paying employees unless our advocacy to secure the funds through legislation is successful.
When Judge Steven Rhodes informed me of this today, I insisted that we meet on Monday with DPS leadership and financial officials to develop a solution to this problem.
We will be reaching out to all of our members who are on a 26-check pay program in the coming days.
We are continuing our fight, together with our community, to secure a solution to the debt crisis facing Detroit Public Schools before June 30.
In solidarity,
Ivy Bailey
Detroit Public Schools released this statement:
"The $48.7 million in supplemental funding recently passed by the Michigan Legislature will provide enough funding for DPS to pay all employees through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2016. However, without the passage of the more comprehensive $715 million education reform package that is now being considered by the Michigan House of Representatives, there will be no funds available to pay DPS employees – those teachers on a 26-pay cycle included. There also will be no funds available for the District to conduct Summer School or provide the year-round special education services that a number of our students rely on. I urge our legislators to act thoughtfully, but with the urgency that this situation demands.”
