Detroit Students Find Teachers on Strike
Posted on: Tuesday, 5 September 2006, 12:00 CDT
By SVEN GUSTAFSON
DETROIT - Students returning from summer vacation in Michigan's largest school district were greeted Tuesday by teachers on picket lines instead of in classrooms.
District officials said the schools would open, despite the week-old strike by the 9,500-member Detroit Federation of Teachers. Some children entered their schools Tuesday morning, but it was unclear what they would do in the absence of teachers.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers overwhelmingly rejected a two-year contract proposal that included a 5.5 percent wage reduction and copays for health care benefits of up to 20 percent. The union is seeking a pay increase.
The district says it needs $105 million in concessions from its unions, including $88 million from teachers, to balance its budget.
Negotiators have been talking on orders from Wayne County Circuit Judge Susan Borman.
District spokesman Lekan Oguntoyinbo said Monday that the strike was forcing some of the district's 130,000 students to seek enrollment elsewhere. Eleven-thousand students left the district last year, he said.
"They are making it easy for thousands of students to flee to charter schools," Oguntoyinbo said.
Teachers union spokeswoman Michelle Price said the district was wrongly trying to hold others responsible for declining enrollment.
At Beaubien Middle School, many parents dropping their children off expressed sympathy with the teachers.
"They have to provide for their families," said Diane Madlock, whose son Jonathan is starting seventh grade. "They can't do that if their salaries are continually being cut."
Some parents said they were keeping their children home.
"What are they going to do for three hours?" asked Lataja Matthews, who stopped by Beaubien for her son's summer school report card. "It's not like they're getting an education."
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
Related Articles
- Renaissance Learning Releases 2010 Edition of Groundbreaking Reading Habits Report: What Kids Are Reading: The Book-Reading Habits of Students in American Schools
- Strong Student Connection to School Community and Its Staff Are Key to Preventing Violence, Says McLean Hospital Researcher
- Santee School District Infuses Technology Into Primary School Curriculum With Support From School Web Lockers
- Teachers' Take on Modified School Calendars
- Teachers' Union Eyes Charter School Students
- EDITORIAL: Blurred Vision On Eye Test: Don't Keep Students Out of School for Lack of Vision Exam
- Teachers Will Take Survey -- School Staff to Again Be Given a Voice in Decisions Affecting the District, Supt. Says
- Crisis in the High School - Senior Hopes to Be Students' Voice on School Board
- Board Rezones Students into West Augustine Schools Unanimous Vote Moves New Students Bound for A-Schools into Less Crowded C-Schools.
- UNFULFILLED PROMISE: Ensuring High Quality Teachers for Our Nation's Schools
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds