Detroit’s children are set to go back to school on Monday after the weekend.
Will their teachers?
There have been reports that public school teachers will call out en-masse on Monday, forcing schools to close. The so-called “sickouts” are a way for teachers to protest working conditions, dilapidated facilities an inadequate funding.
Teacher strikes are illegal in Michigan.
A press release from Equal Opportunity Now/By Any Means Necessary, an activist group, said some schools would “take sick-out action.”
The Detroit Federation of Teachers, however, said on its website that it is not calling for any action on Monday.
“We are, however, looking ahead to a mass action in April as we continue our fight for strong, viable neighborhood public schools in Detroit,” it said.
Detroit Public Schools said on its Facebook page that it is “aware” of the efforts, and encouraged those concerned to reach out to the Detroit Federation of Teachers, the recognized collective bargaining organization for teachers in the school district.
Detroit’s school system, which is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, is currently being sued by the union.
Embattled Gov. Rick Snyder, who is also dealing with the fallout from the Flint water crisis, said in his State of the State address that the city’s schools are in a crisis.
The school system was previously under the supervision of an emergency manager appointed by Snyder, Darnell Earley.
Earley, who was also Flint’s emergency manager from 2013-2015, resigned last month.
