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| Gingrich on Detroit | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 31 2007, 07:03 PM (499 Views) | |
| LPS Reformer | Jul 31 2007, 07:03 PM Post #1 |
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
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Link Gingrich calls Detroit a disaster, draws ire Jennifer Mrozowski and Tony Gonzalez / The Detroit News Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich drew strong criticism from Detroit city leaders and school officials Monday after calling the city a "disaster" in a national network TV interview on Sunday. Gingrich blasted the city of Detroit, Detroit Public Schools, the United Auto Workers and Michigan's unemployment rate during an interview on Fox News Sunday in which he talked about how he would transform Washington. A spokesman for Gingrich, an undeclared Republican presidential candidate who has been ramping up his public appearances, singled out Detroit and its schools because they're the "best worst-case example" of bureaucracy and "a union structure that doesn't work." "We should basically, fundamentally replace the Detroit school system with a series of experiments to see if they'll work," Gingrich said in the interview. Rick Tyler, Gingrich's spokesman, said Monday that unions are to blame for many of the city's and state's woes, including the inability of the Big Three automakers to be competitive and the school system's struggle to reform itself. Gingrich also cited Detroit's massive population losses. "Detroit is routinely pointed out as one of the worst public school systems in the entire country," Tyler said. "It provides the best example of why we need transformational change in bureaucratic systems that don't work." A UAW spokesman would not comment, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office did not immediately return calls. Detroit Federation of Teachers President Virginia Cantrell said Gingrich should focus on his own city and state and "leave Detroit alone." Meanwhile, city leaders point to a renaissance in Detroit, including the most housing starts since the city was first built. They also say the new Detroit Public Schools superintendent, who started July 1, needs to be given a chance to overhaul the troubled schools. "I do believe we need to work together to transform the way we deliver educational services," said Detroit school board President Jimmy Womack. "But we are the governing body. I'm not suggesting other entities should attempt to govern the district." Womack was referring to statements Gingrich made that the DPS school board and Detroit City Council should be challenged to reform DPS. Gingrich also said Granholm, lawmakers and union leaders must work to save Michigan from collapse. Womack and other Detroit Public Schools' officials vigorously disputed Gingrich's comments about the school system's graduation rate, which he said was 22 percent, a statistic recently released by Education Week magazine. According to the Michigan Department of Education, Detroit Public Schools has a graduation rate of 67.2 percent, though a 2005 Detroit News analysis put that number at 48 percent. Monica Conyers, the council's president pro tem, acknowledged that Detroit Public Schools' graduation rate is too low, but she doubted Gingrich knows much about the true graduation rate in the school system or the city's progress. "Detroit is on an upswing," she said. "I would invite Newt Gingrich to come here." Conyers said she would give Gingrich a personal tour of the city. "I wish people who haven't been here would refrain from attacking us," she said. Matt Allen, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's spokesman, also touted Detroit's renaissance. But he reiterated comments by the mayor that city's public school system is not performing at the optimal level, necessitating other educational options citywide. Other Detroiters agreed with Gingrich, at least about the school system needing transformation. "The kids are so bad they want them out of those schools so they pass them anyway," said Ulysses Parks, a 27-year-old DPS dropout. Like most of his close friends, Parks dropped out, but he later got his GED. Ida Byrd-Hill, a mother of two DPS students who has operated a specialty school for the district, said improving the district will be a challenge. "This school system has problems, but it's not the system alone," Byrd-Hill said. "The whole region has responsibility." She said she's confident the new school superintendent, Connie Calloway, will make a difference. Calloway could not be reached for comment. You can reach Jennifer Mrozowski at (313) 222-2269 or jmrozowski@detnews.com. |
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“Child Abuse” means different things to different people.... ----Randy Liepa 8/9/12 | |
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| LPS Reformer | May 15 2011, 11:52 AM Post #2 |
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
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Any one doubt he was right? |
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“Child Abuse” means different things to different people.... ----Randy Liepa 8/9/12 | |
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| Otis B. | May 15 2011, 12:58 PM Post #3 |
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Veteran
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Of course he's right. Unfortunately, the thin skinned people who live in this region have their heads planted in the sand and are happy to keep it that way. You would think they've never been anywhere else the way that they talk about the "gems" in Detroit. It's such a joke. Look at how everyone including our pathetic media swooned over a flipping Super Bowl ad. You would have thought Eminem had cured cancer they way everyone went on. It was weeks of hysteria....and what exactly did it accomplish? |
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