The summer has been filled with policy shifts that greatly impact the state of education in the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan at large. Things are changing so rapidly, it can be difficult for most citizens to keep up with what is happening, or to understand the implications for them and their children. What follows is a summation of important events impacting the Detroit public school system. Our hope is that it will serve as a resource to you and your constituents in helping keep parents and students informed and engaged in the process of ensuring a high quality educational opportunity for all children.

On August 3, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered that the Board of Canvassers must include the petition to repeal Public Act 4 of 2011, known as the emergency manager law, on the November 6th ballot. As ordered, the Board of Canvassers met on August 8 to certify the petition signatures. This action immediately suspended Public Act 4, pending the outcome of the election in November. As a result, at that time, the powers of all Emergency Managers in the state, including Roy Roberts, Emergency Manager of Detroit Public Schools, were also suspended.

Upon suspension of Public Act 4, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's office rendered the opinion that Public Act 72 of 1990, the emergency financial manager law that preceded Public Act 4, is revived until certification of the November 2012 election results. Additionally, if Public Act 4 is repealed in November, then Public Act 72 will become permanent. As a result of this ruling, Governor Snyder reinstated all the former Emergency Managers as Emergency Financial Managers under Public Act 72.

Without going into the full detail of the differences between Public Act 4 and Public Act 72, one of the important ones is that the authorities of an Emergency Manager under Public Act 4 were greatly expanded, and included the ability to annul contracts and override the decisions of elected officials. In the case of Detroit Public Schools, one of the results of Public Act 4 was that it removed the decision making authority from the Detroit Public School board. With the repeal of Public Act 4 and the reinstatement of Public Act 72, the school board now has authority over academic decisions, and the emergency financial manager has authority over financial decisions.

On August 8, Roy Roberts filed an injunction in Wayne County Circuit Court to stop the Detroit Public School board from acting on the grounds that their actions would "cause irreparable harm to the district." On August 9, the school board met and took 2 significant actions:

1. They appointed John Telford interim superintendent of Detroit Public Schools (DPS), and

2. They voted to annul the interlocal agreement between Detroit Public Schools and Eastern Michigan   University that created the Michigan Education Achievement Authority (EAA), and to transfer the 15 schools that had been placed in the EAA back into DPS.

On August 10, Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a lawsuit seeking to remove 7 of the 11 members of the Detroit Public School board, and an injunction to block the school board from taking any further action. The Attorney General's office claims that the seven members were serving illegally because they were elected by district instead of as at-large members as required by state law. The law requires districts with less than 100,000 enrolled students to elect all school board members at large. Detroit Public Schools has had less than 100,000 students enrolled since 2008.

On August 14, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge John A. Murphy granted in part and denied in part Roy Roberts' request for an injunction against the school board. The judge stated that all of the Emergency Manager's decisions preceding the approval of the ballot measure will stand. As a result, the board did not have the power to annul the interlocal agreement or to transfer the 15 schools back to Detroit Public Schools. He also stated, that going forward, the school board and the Emergency Manager must agree which decisions are financial and which are academic, thus encouraging them to work together. In the event the two parties cannot come to agreement, the judge will make the decisions in court on a "case-by-case" basis. To date, the Attorney General's lawsuit against the board is still pending.

The Education Achievement Authority has additional legal standing to back its continued existence and operation apart from the outcome of the ballot initiative to repeal Public Act 4. As of October 31, 2011, the functions and responsibilities of the State School Reform/Redesign District under Public Act 451 of 1976 and as amended in 2010, were transferred to the Education Achievement Authority. In addition to establishing a statewide school reform district, this act delineates the process for placing the lowest achieving 5% of public schools in the state under the supervision of the state reform officer (or EAA Chancellor), and the steps to be taken thereafter to reform the school. Therefore, it would appear under this statute that the new statewide reform district, the Educational Achievement Authority, will remain as a resource for school improvement across the state.

References:

Dawsey, C. P. (2012, August 10). Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette sues to cut DPS board, its power. Retrieved August 10, 2012, from Detroit Free Press web site: http://www.freep.com/article/20120810/NEWS01/308100156/Michigan-Attorney-General-Bill-Schuette-sues-to-cut-DPS-board-its-power

Egan, P., Bell, D., Helms, M., & Hackney, S. (2012, August 3). Supreme Court: Emergency manager repeal must go on November ballot. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from Detroit Free Press web site: http://www.freep.com/article/20120803/NEWS06/120803045/Michigan-Supreme-Court-emergency-manager-law-Public-Act-4-ballot

Lewis, S. D. (2012, August 10). EAA chief: DPS board has 'no authority' to take back schools. Retrieved August 10, 2012, from The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120810/SCHOOLS/208100426/1361/Schuette%C3%ADs-staff-serves-head-of-DPS-board-with-lawsuit

Pscholka, R. (2011, March 16). Public Act No. 4: Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act. Retrieved 2012 10, August, from State of Michigan Legislature web site: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/publicact/htm/2011-PA-0004.htm