900 jobs to be cut in Detroit district

From The Detroit News: Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager plans to cut more than 900 of the district's employees and take other drastic cost-cutting measures to eliminate the system's multimillion-dollar deficit. Robert Bobb says cuts to the district's 15,000 employees will include layoffs of hundreds of teachers and staff in central administration. Bobb already has announced that 29 schools would be closed by fall. Other cost-cutting will be sought through labor contract renegotiations and changes in vendor agreements. Bobb plans to balance the budget by June, which requires eliminating a $306 million deficit.

Earlier...from The Detroit News: In a further move to restructure the troubled Detroit Public Schools district, emergency financial manager Robert Bobb will remove 33 principals from their jobs. As part of the plan, an additional 37 principals are being reassigned. The sweeping changes will affect the leadership at 1 in every 4 schools.

ALSO: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is interviewed by The Detroit News editorial board.

Earlier...from The Detroit Free Press: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says Detroit Public Schools are a "national disgrace" and he wants the mayor to take control of the 95,000-student system. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, state Superintendent Mike Flanagan and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing met with Duncan and agreed that the time has come for the mayor to take over. The meeting came one day after the district announced that 29 of its 200 schools will close by summer, and 40 others will be restructured because they failed to meet academic goals.

RELATED: Just 4 1/2 years after a racially charged battle ended with Detroit voters taking back control of the school board back from the mayor, it appears power may change hands again . Experts and observers predict that if mayoral control is proposed again -- either as a bill in Lansing or on a ballot in Detroit -- it is more likely to pass than fail.

ALSO...from The Detroit News: Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb is asking the federal government to put the school district under a "special presidential emergency declaration" to allow it to receive emergency funding. The U.S. Department of Education did not comment on the request, but state officials say no other Michigan school district has used this tactic. Presidential emergency declarations are typically made available only in natural disasters, which may mean Bobb's request is not applicable.

EARLIER...from The Detroit News: The emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools says 29 schools will close this year -- six more than originally planned. Another 40 will undergo restructuring. The district also will pour more than $100 million into buildings. Emergency Manager Robert Bobb says the closures and rebuilding effort are part of a plan that could have some schools changing to private management or converting to charters. Bobb says 30 to 40 additional schools should be closed, but he did not give a timetable for that.

ALSO...From The Detroit Free Press: With more than a third of its 194 schools set to close or be restructured, Detroit Public Schools could look vastly different by this fall.

APRIL 2009....From The Detroit News: Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager Robert Bobb says he plans to send layoff notices to 600 teachers and close 23 schools in the fall because of plummeting enrollment and a mounting deficit. Bobb also announced plans to plow more than $200 million into existing buildings by enhancing security and making structural and other improvements. Bobb says the closings and layoffs are necessary to stave off a $306 million deficit.

ALSO: The list of schools that may be closed (Detroit Free Press)

MARCH 2009...From The Detroit News: Detroit Public Schools' new financial manager expects to unveil a plan to close as many as 20 school buildings by fall to address a deficit expected to be more than $200 million by the end of the fiscal year. Robert Bobb, who has been on the job less than two weeks, told The Detroit News in an interview that he also plans to overhaul the district's top administration by hiring a chief financial officer and employing one or more superintendents with experience in urban districts who will work with him and acting Superintendent Teresa Gueyser to improve academics. The school board fired Chief Financial Officer Joan McCray and Superintendent Connie Calloway in December.