18 companies submit bids to run charter schools in Detroit

From The Detroit Free Press: The plan to convert as many as 45 Detroit Public Schools to charter schools has attracted bids from 18 companies, a few of which have run high-achieving charter schools and several that have operated failing local schools. The Renaissance 2012 plan drew bids from two national companies -- Leona Group and Mosaica Education. Perhaps the most troubled company to show interest is Charter School Administration Services, which operates five charter schools in Michigan and has seen four of its local low-performing charter schools shut down, three of them in 2010.

Earlier...from The Detroit News: Sit-ins, neighborhood marches with megaphones and YouTube video pleas are all being launched to block school closures and charter conversions in the Detroit school district. Teachers, students and administrators say they are out to stop the dismantling of district as the clock ticks down on plans to "rightsize" the district by closing eight schools and turning over as many as 45 schools to charter operators in the next two years.

Earlier...from The Detroit News: Angry students, parents and teachers lambasted a plan to close 14 Detroit schools and convert 45 others to charter schools. Their most venomous wrath was directed at Emergency Manager Robert Bobb, the plan architect who mostly listened to the criticism in silence.

MARCH 2011....From The Detroit Free Press: A new facilities proposal in the Detroit school system would affect nearly 40 percent of the district's students and about 2,500 school employees. Dozens of buildings would be closed or offered to charter companies to take over. Instead of trying to convert 41 schools to charters by fall, the plan from emergency financial manager Robert Bobb proposes to convert 45 schools, but says that some of those buildings would remain open if charter school operators are not identified. Other schools will close altogether.
RELATED: Details on which schools would be affected by the proposal, which is known as Renaissance 2012 ------------------------------------------------

EARLIER...from The Detroit News: Detroit school district officials hope to attract top-notch charter operators to transform 41 of the district's lowest-performing schools into public school academies. But with the district's track record of academic failure, its $327 million deficit and its dozens of decaying classroom buildings, who will come to Detroit to operate a charter school?

Also...from The Detroit News: Converting 41 Detroit public schools to charters would save the district $75 million to $99 million in operational costs, district officials say. The district also estimates that it would generate an estimated $21.8 million in lease income from the chartered schools and save about $22 million by not having to close and secure the buildings. But the president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers said Tuesday that savings would come at the expense of teachers who would lose state pensions under the deal.Also from The Detroit Free Press: Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb has announced a restructuring plan for the struggling school system that he says would save the district millions of dollars by converting 41 poorly performing schools into charter schools. Based on a similar plan carried out in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the Renaissance Plan 2012 would lease the buildings and equipment to charter operators, who would run the buildings as public school academies.