What can we learn about school reforms from Detroit?

by David Safier

Detroit hasn't been doing so well improving its schools by taking the advice of today's "reformers." It's not a fair example, because as a city, Detroit is pretty much a basket case. Still,it's instructive to see how the city's educational reforms have been working out.

Detroit has been down the charter school road for years. As many students are in charters as in district schools.

Results?

Charter school students score about the same on state tests as Detroit district students, even though charters have fewer special education students (8 percent versus 17 percent in the district) and fewer poor children (65 percent get subsidized lunches versus 82 percent at district schools).

Disheartening but not surprising. Good charter schools are good schools, bad charter schools are bad schools, just like good and bad district and private schools.

Detroit brought in a Superintendent, Robert Bobb, known as a budget cutter, paying him [Irony Alert 1] $425,000 a year. He hired financial consultants to help him, spending [Irony Alert 2] millions more. Teachers took a $5,000 cut and pay more for health insurance.

Results?

Since Mr. Bobb arrived, the $200 million deficit has risen to $327 million. While he has made substantial cuts to save money — including $16 million by firing hundreds of administrators — any gains have been overshadowed by the exodus of the 8,000 students a year.

He can't be held entirely responsible, but he certainly hasn't stopped the bleeding.

The article talks about a few successful Detroit district schools, but the basic picture is bleak.

My moral from the story is this: Today's educational "reformers" — a much overused word — know all the problems, which they condemn from their media pulpits like fire-and-brimstone preachers, but that doesn't mean they know the solutions. In fact, they don't. Improving children's educations is very, very tough business, no matter what the snake oil salesmen say.