School money czar renews Detroit's hopes

Folks all through Detroit are feeling a sense of hope for the first time since I have been involved in Detroit Public Schools. During my 22 years with the system, I have witnessed cronyism, nepotism, racial politics and incompetency rob the futures of generations of kids.

The state appointment of Robert Bobb as the emergency financial manager brings a new sigh of relief from those of us in the classrooms.

We have been feeling for the longest time that the life support system we provided for the kids was existing on borrowed time. Bobb moved quickly and precisely on budget cuts, the summer school program and other issues. These are all so needed to save the generation sitting in the classrooms right now.

Still, problems linger. A recent teacher curriculum workshop put on by district administrators gave me hope of getting the retooling necessary to meet the needs of my kids. The room was packed. At least 60 teachers showed up for three hours of additional instruction after putting in a full day in the classroom.

But as the workshop began, it became apparent that the teachers in the training knew more about the curriculum than the two supervisors and three instructional specialists.

The presenters asked the teachers what they felt their professional development needs were. Teachers were at a loss for words because we were hoping the administrators would share with us where the curriculum was going and how the state and federal standards were changing.

Then one of the administrators pointed to a liquid crystal display projector and said, "We would like to take this DVD and put it in that machine over there to get it to show on the screen in the front of the room. Can someone in the room help us out?"

Initially, no one raised a hand. Finally, a young teacher said she would try to hook it all up.

This was symbolic of the fact that the basic technology most classrooms have today is lacking in Detroit Public Schools classrooms. Yet the glaring need for technology and training went right over the heads of our academic supervisors and specialists, who had no clue as to what to do. The reality in the school buildings hit me in the face again.

Is Detroit still preparing students adequately once we restore financial viability? The lifeline is not complete.

The Detroit school district needs an academic specialist to work side by side with the emergency financial manager. The kids won't have a chance until this team becomes a reality.

Ann K. Crowley is a Detroit school teacher and part of a reform group called Detroit Children First. Please fax comments to (313) 496-5253 or e-mail them to letters@detnews.com">letters@detnews.com.