DPS slashes funds for an institution

Detroit -- Some students, parents and teachers are up in arms over the slashing of funding to Detroit's Children's Museum, a move that jeopardizes the future of the one of the nation's oldest such institutions.

The museum, operated by Detroit Public Schools, has been supplementing classroom lessons, developing exhibits and providing hands-on fun since its formation in 1917. But the district's daunting deficit forced the elimination of general funding to the museum as of July 1.

"I'm heartbroken," said a stunned Anita Cywiak, 68, who performed a puppet show for children at the museum Tuesday. "It would be so tragic not to have quality programming and cultural education available for these children."

Like more than 100 others, Cywiak, signed a petition to save the museum. She's also writing a letter to Robert Bobb, Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager, to restore funding.

While staffers at the museum anticipate they will be out of work Aug. 7 -- the day after summer programming ends -- efforts are under way to spin off the museum into a self-supporting entity, said Jennifer Roberts, a board member of Children's Museum Friends, the support arm that raises about $70,000 annually for the museum. They'll be working with DPS in the coming weeks to do whatever they can to keep the museum open, she said.

Daily operations of the Children's Museum, located in the New Center area, depend on the $982,000 it receives from DPS' general fund and federal Title I grants.

Faced with a massive deficit that has prompted 29 school closures and nearly 2,500 layoffs, Bobb's budget plan eliminated general funding for "non-core" operations, including the museum. But the budget still allocated $450,000 to the museum in federal Title I funds, which DPS hopes can still support its operations.

"The goal is not to close it but restructure it as an independent entity that no longer depends on the budget fluctuations and the bureaucracy of DPS," said district spokesman Steve Wasko. "We feel this will make it stronger while preserving the asset for DPS."

The plan envisions the museum can survive with enhanced philanthropic support and by generating operating revenues.

"Museums both locally and nationally thrive under private fundraising," Wasko said. "And all of Detroit's major museums operate in this manner."

However, supporters of the Children's Museum say that its free admission and generous lending of exhibits to teachers make it unique.

"You see these kids grow up and get so much out of the museum and activities," Roberts said.

"It really does shape and mold the children. To me, that's a very important experience for them to have and it's devastating to think that it could be lost. This is one of the few free museum opportunities they have."

On Wednesday, summer school children crowded in the museum to learn about Michigan's history and enjoy hands-on games and exhibits. "Children need to have an outlet," said Eileen Daniels, a teacher at Detroit's Ella Fitzgerald school. "They get a chance to touch things, feel things, play with objects. That's what the kids need to just get their imagination going."

Students and teachers alike said they would hate to see anything happen to the museum. "It should stay open," said Ernest Roberson, a seventh-grader at Ella Fitzgerald, who learned that Petoskey is the state's stone, among other lessons.

"It helps you learn about your history and the past, and it helps you learn about the future."

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