If you scroll down to the bottom of this article in the Detroit Free Press, you can see images (like the one to the right) of the despicable conditions that adults and children are forced to endure across their school system. Broken windows, moldy ceilings, uneven floors, and more issues plague their buildings. While my current school in New York City does not have these same issues, I empathize with the situation in Detroit form my days working in older and less maintained buildings in Philadelphia that had similar conditions,
It is for this reason (as well as protests of large class sizes and other issues) that Detroit Public School teachers have been protesting using a means at their disposal: the "sick out." Groups of teachers across the city have been staying at home instead of working in deplorable conditions in order to get more attention to the issues at hand. This past week, the DPS has gone to Facebook to announce the schools that are open because it is a much shorter list than those that are closed.
It is for this reason (as well as protests of large class sizes and other issues) that Detroit Public School teachers have been protesting using a means at their disposal: the "sick out." Groups of teachers across the city have been staying at home instead of working in deplorable conditions in order to get more attention to the issues at hand. This past week, the DPS has gone to Facebook to announce the schools that are open because it is a much shorter list than those that are closed.
Even though the DPS has gone to court to ask for an injunction against the sickouts, the judge ruled in favor of the union and its teachers. Some groups are calling for a more extended teacher strike in the near future. Whatever happens, I hope that more attention is paid to whom is running the school district and they supply more support in order to fix the physical and emotional problems plaguing it.
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