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The state of Detroit public schools: Superintendent lays out vision for the district

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DETROIT (WXYZ) — The state of Detroit Public Schools Community District was on full display with a packed house at Renaissance High School on Monday.

Superintendent Nikolai Vitti talked about the district's progress. I talked to him about the district's goals to boost attendance, graduation rates and to move the needle on math and literacy scores.

Vitti says he has four goals: improve attendance, proficiency, the graduation rate and continue progress.

Paying students to attend class was the hot-button issue. Vitti says it was time to think out of the box.

“Our No. 1 obstacle in seeing scaled and accelerated improvement is attendance. When our students miss 18 or fewer days, they are three to five times more likely to be at or above grade level,” Vitti said.

That would mean more improvement in literacy, math scores and for students to be college ready on the ACT.

Board President Corletta Vaughn says they should have done this long ago.

“Chronic absenteeism is still very, very, very real, but it is improving,” Vaughn said.

So far, 99% of the students involved with the Perfect Attendance Pays program are coming to school.

“They have to attend a certain amount of classes, they cannot be absent, there is a $1,000 incentive, of course. They will get that after they have concluded all of the courses,” Vaughn said.

Related video: Detroit public school's Perfect Attendance Pays program sees progress

DPSCD instituting perfect attendance pays initiative

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Detroit sits at 31.5%, which is almost three times higher than the national average.

“That's the thing with the money. That's going to help so much with the families where they don't have to worry about where are they going to eat, do they have extra money. They will have the things that they need to be prepared for their kids to come to learn,” said Vershawn Anderson, who graduated from Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School.

Anderson’s son Herbert is a junior at Davis Aerospace Technical High School. He also credits his principal with inspiring students to attend school.

“Michelle Davis, she makes sure our schools are safe. Completely, there is no fighting, no violence, none of that. It’s completely safe… It’s a wonderful environment to be in,” Herbert Anderson said.

Vitti says teacher vacancies have drastically decreased and the pay is up to $55,000. Veteran teachers can make more than $100,000, which is now the best in metro Detroit.

The graduation rate has improved 9 percentage points over the last two years, only a couple points away from the state average, which is above 80%.

“Stay the course. Our plan is working,” Vitti said.

With nearly 50,000 students, there has been an increase in migrant and refugee families enrolling at DPSCD, according to Chalkbeat Detroit, and that brings added concern.

“We have a new president and the challenges that his administration and his policies are bringing mainly on our immigrant families,” Vitti said. “We support all of our children and all of our families. There are ways legally that we can continue to protect them while they’re in our schools.”

Vitti say DPSCD is moving in the right direction and while there is more work to be done, he is happy with the progress.