Education secretary says Robert Bobb is a 'breath of fresh air'

Nathan Hurst and Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

Washington -- Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager overseeing a massive overhaul of Detroit Public Schools, got a major boost in his quest for academic control of the district as the nation's top education official said he supported Bobb's reform efforts.

"I think that'd be a big step in the right direction," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said during a roundtable with reporters on his department's plans for nationwide school reforms.

Duncan's comments come as state lawmakers consider changing Michigan's emergency financial manager law to expand Bobb's purview from fiscal matters to those of academics as well. Detroit's elected school board has fought against such a change, suing Bobb in court and testifying at education committee hearings in Lansing.

Control over academics is unresolved, even as Bobb moves forward to implement sweeping academic reforms. Some of those efforts include new requirements for high-schoolers to take Advanced Placement courses that can help move them ahead with collegiate studies, pre-algebra curriculum for sixth-graders and a new program that would pair pre-kindergarten students with reading tutors to help them get an early jump on basic skills.

Many of those reforms fall in line with Duncan's nationwide reform efforts. Over the past year, the federal Department of Education has announced new funding efforts to offer schools districts incentives to devise innovative ways to educate students who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

Academic issues were highlighted by low scores by fourth- and eighth-graders on a national test. Most of Detroit students taking the test scored below basic on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Duncan called the scores a wake-up call.

"Detroit was so far behind everybody else, it was staggering," he said. "It was stunning."

Duncan took square aim at the fiscal troubles that have besieged DPS over the past few years, much of it due to oversight, mismanagement and, in some cases, criminal corruption, he said.

"We have to end fiscal mismanagement. This was a system that seemed to work for some adults, but it certainly didn't work for children," Duncan said. "... The abuses and the mismanagement and the criminal activity around finance ---- this is money for kids who need education. It's horrendous what's happened there."

In his role as emergency financial manager, Bobb has implemented a number of policies aimed at cleaning up corruption in Michigan's largest public school system.

And last year, after heated negotiations, Bobb and the Detroit Federation of Teachers agreed to sweeping contract changes that, among other things, will set aside $10,000 of teachers' paychecks to a fund that will pay them a lump sum when they leave the district, a move aimed at encouraging retirements.

Bobb was also able to broker a deal with the teachers that will encourage greater accountability in adequately educating students. At Thursday's roundtable, Duncan also praised recent reforms enacted by teachers' unions around the nation, including in Detroit, which call for greater teacher accountability.

Duncan praised Bobb and what he's done in the district, calling him "a breath of fresh air."

"I've said repeatedly that what's going on in Detroit, and what's gone on for a long time, has been heartbreaking," he said.

Duncan's comments set off a slew of reactions in Detroit on Thursday.

Steve Wasko, a spokesman for the district and Bobb, said Duncan's comments point toward the need for greater centralized control of DPS' academic structure.

"This isn't about Robert Bobb," Wasko said. "It's about a system that's failed far too many of Detroit's schoolchildren for too many years. Clearly, Secretary Duncan has seen the data and has come to the obvious conclusion, that is, that we have an academic emergency as severe if not more so than the financial emergency, and emergency response is required."

But not all stakeholders were enthralled with Duncan's praise for Bobb.

Reverend David Murray, a Detroit school board member, countered that Bobb isn't an educator by trade and shouldn't be granted more power over the city's schools.

"Robert Bobb can barely keep the financial piece together and that's his expertise," Murray said.

In other news on the board's civil lawsuit against Bobb over academic control, a judge Thursday denied the board's request for attorney fees.

Without any payment, the board's lawyer, Ben Gonek, will be leaving the case and the district's general counsel will now take over representation, he said. No trial date has been set.

nhurst@detnews.com (202) 662-8738