Detroit school closings

This week Detroit announced they would close 32 schools in the city at the end of this month. This represents almost a fifth of the districts entire school system. It also is part of a larger series of closings that will total 166 school closings from 2001 until 2011. Additional statistics that were just released reveal that 47 Detroit schools are within the lowest achieving 5 percent of all schools in the state of Michigan.

Detroit closed 29 schools last fall and shut down an additional 35 buildings about three years ago. The district reported an enrollment of 87,700 earlier this year. Enrollment is projected to dip to 56,500 in 2014-15.

What does all this add up to? If you look at the information behind the closures it overwhelmingly is reported as due to "declining enrollment" or premises not suitable; meaning the school is in disrepair.

In what ways does this effect the mood of the students? Is the concept of  "higher learning" diminished because of the neglect and lack of resources. Who are the teachers that have decided to remain in Detroit and teach there? It would be interesting to see the stats on teachers who are passionate and want to teach through struggle and adversity; inspiring and dedicated; and those who teach in Detroit because there is no other option and therefore approach the conditions with an apathetic, benign point of view.

Either way, this can't produce a positive environment that fosters excellence. So, does the downward spiral continue and at what point do counter measures actually create a turnaround? What happens to the kids?