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Urgent fix needed for Detroit Public Schools

Posted at 5:32 PM, May 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-11 08:36:11-04

An urgent fix is needed to save Detroit Public Schools from a total collapse.

More than a half billion dollars is needed from Lansing.

Two vastly different plans have passed the Michigan house and senate and time is limited to get a deal.

The governor knows this is crunch time. And he told me, he’s on it including first thing this morning.

Money and trust are the 2 biggest issues in play in a DPS fix.

With the threat of payless paydays, teachers staged 2 days of sickouts, closing down the schools.

When the Michigan house passed its plan last week in the middle of the night, it only provided $500-million to cover DPS debt and, many believe, took steps to penalize the teachers - allowing uncertified teachers on a temporary basis and sanctions for strikes, among other issues.

The state senate passed a plan for $715 million for 10 years to cover DPS debt and start a brand new DPS.

The question now: how do you resolve that $200-million gap?

Timing is critical; the legislature—while full time—also takes a summer vacation.

So just as we saw with the high stakes funding fix of roads last year, a lot of this negotiation will go on behind the scenes.