| Founded in 1842, the Detroit Schools are one | | | | higher proficiency in reading than in math. |
| of the nation's largest public school | | | | The study examined 5 years of test, race, |
| systems. The Detroit Schools' system is a | | | | poverty and other student data. Debate over |
| district of choice, and is open to children | | | | charter schools is hot. Proponents of the |
| who live outside the city. The district | | | | schools, such as Daniel L. Quisenberry, |
| offers numerous academic and career/ | | | | president of the Michigan Association of |
| technical programs. Among these programs | | | | Public School Academies, said that "students |
| are: the Foreign Language Immersion and | | | | make significant progress academically once |
| Cultural Studies School (the only one of its | | | | they enroll in a charter school." Detroit |
| kind in Michigan), Davis Aerospace (one of | | | | Schools' District Interim Superintendent |
| only a handful of schools in the country | | | | Lamont Satchel recently issued the following |
| where students can obtain a pilot's license), | | | | statement regarding a proposal to bring 25 |
| multiple award winning performing arts high | | | | new charter schools to Detroit: "The Detroit |
| schools, Detroit School of the Arts, and | | | | Public Schools system remains the best |
| Crockett Technical High School (is a digital | | | | educational option for children in this city. |
| technology school). The Detroit Schools | | | | We offer a richer variety of academic and |
| consist of 232 schools; 147 elementary | | | | extra-curricular options than both charter |
| schools, 31 middle schools, 28 high schools, | | | | schools and neighboring public school |
| 12 special education schools, 10 adult | | | | systems. Above all, we vastly outperform |
| education schools, and 4 vocational education | | | | charter schools in the city on standardized |
| schools. Approximately 143,490 students | | | | examinations." The rich variety of Detroit |
| attend Detroit Schools. Student/teacher | | | | Schools includes many different programs, |
| ratio in grades K-3 is 17:1. Detroit Schools | | | | ranging from performing arts, technology, |
| have a "minority-majority" population; 91% of | | | | media arts, commerce, finance, and, aviation. |
| students are African American, 5% are | | | | Another issue that Detroit Schools are |
| Hispanic, 3% are White, 0.8% are Asian, and | | | | facing is a shrinking student population. |
| 0.3% are Native American. The Detroit | | | | Over the past 10 years, the district has lost |
| Schools cover a geographical area that is | | | | more than 60,000 students. Much of this loss |
| 138.8 square miles and serves a city | | | | is due to the city's declining population and |
| population of 951,270 people. Several issues | | | | shrinking birth rates, but a lot has been |
| are currently being debated in the Detroit | | | | attributed to "poaching" from charter schools |
| Schools. Among them are student achievement, | | | | and neighboring public school systems. "This |
| as measured by the Michigan Educations | | | | is a critical year for the [Detroit School] |
| Assessment Program, or MEAP, debate over | | | | District," said Lamont Satchel, Esq. "While |
| lifting the Charter School cap, and shrinking | | | | we continue to face declining enrollment we |
| student populations. A recent study on how | | | | must also confront the possibility of cuts in |
| the Detroit Schools' students are doing show | | | | per pupil funding. ...But we know that these |
| that students have improved their reading and | | | | problems are not insurmountable. We can |
| math scores since a federal program (No Child | | | | overcome these challenges. And we shall |
| Left Behind) began pushing for academic | | | | overcome." |
| progress. The report found that students' | | | | |
| performance in Detroit Schools increased in | | | | Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools |
| reading and math at both the elementary and | | | | K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all |
| middle school levels. More students showed a | | | | U.S. public and private K-12 schools. |