Fixing Education - April 28th (click here)

Who: Robert Bobb, Emergency Financial Manager of DPS
What: His first town hall meeting, interviewed by Bankole Thompson of NPR
Where: Wayne State University's Community Arts Auditorium
When: Tuesday April 28th, 7 PM
Why: To lay out the vision for education in Detroit and to enable community members to provide constructive feedback to the man in charge of education's revitalization

Since Governor Granholm appointed Robert Bobb to take on the task of fixing Detroit's Public Schools, I had a good feeling. He has neither the baggage nor the corruption of the current DPS board. And most importantly, with his work in D.C. and Oakland he has the experience to get the job done. An open and honest assessment of the educational system's weaknesses and accounts... just what the doctor ordered.

The preliminary results are in, and as he has said, Detroit is Mr. Bobb's greatest challenge yet. He's enacted a hiring freeze, motioned to close numerous schools and layoff even more teachers. This was to compensate for the hundreds of employees on payroll who were unaccounted for in previous balance sheets. He's also proposed a $52M project to improve after-school and summer education for students. Sounds great, right?

The problem is that like an ER doc, Mr. Bobb is not here for the long haul. His job is to start the turnaround, but it is our job to finish it. That is why we must engage in the process and promise of education for Detroit's children now. Showing up at events like next Tuesday's town hall meeting is a good first step. If we are truly committed to reshaping Detroit, we have to make sacrifices - both with time and money - for the education of its students.

See ya in 8 days.