WDET News
- State to Take Over Finances at the Detroit Public Schools
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Dec 8, 2008General - Link to Audio
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan says the Detroit Public Schools failed to abide by the conditions laid out in a consent decree reached between the district and the state. He says the troubled school system is facing a “financial emergency” and while the superintendent and board will retain control over educational matters…a state-appointed financial manager will take over the district’s books. But School board member Jimmy Womack says the state’s actions DO amount to a state take-over.
“I think Mike Flanagan is disingenuous when he says this is not a take-over…in fact 80 to 90 percent of what we do is financial.”
The state completely took over the district in 1999. That takeover lasted four years. I’m Noah Ovshinsky, WDET News.