Detroit Public Schools have been in an uncomfortable financial situation for a few years now. Teachers have had to take pay cuts in various forms and DPS is in hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

The current financial strain may get even more serious in less than a month when it could potentially run out of funds and leave up to 46,000 kids without schools, according to FOX2 Detroit.

Interim DPS superintendent Alycia Mariweather and newly-appointed DPS transitions manager Steven Rhodes are reportedly working with state lawmakers to push forward legislation that would supply DPS with $50 million in funding to keep doors open after April 8.

“We can’t borrow money because that takes money from the classroom,” Rhodes said, who also said that there’s no longer a Plan B to fixing this issue, with a potential bankruptcy looming overhead.

“I cannot, in good conscience, ask these teachers to work after April 8 knowing that I can’t pay them and their paychecks are due two weeks later,” he continued.

Meriweather told FOX2 that DPS has already closed 150 schools and cut $10,000 off of teachers’ salaries, who are making less than they did six years ago.

“Have you ever heard of employees who loan money to their company?,” Mariweather said. “If they’re that dedicated, we don’t want to lose them.”

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Author

  • Keith Reid-Cleveland is a proud product of Chicago's Southside and the Missouri School of Journalism. The Black Youth Project News Editor has written about politics, race and entertainment for multiple publications, such as Uproxx, The Undefeated, Black Nerd Problems, Comic Book Resources and more.