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Detroit Teachers Rally Outside State Capitol

Protest Divides Lansing Officials

POSTED: Thursday, September 25, 2003
UPDATED: 12:57 pm EDT September 25, 2003

More than 100,000 Detroit public school students had the day off Thursday as their teachers skipped school to fight a proposal for more charter schools in the city, Local 4 reported.

Some parents and children also went to the rally alongside the thousands of teachers on hand.

The group was trying to use their numbers and their voices to persuade the Legislature to stop a proposal to open more charter schools in Detroit.

A bid agreed to by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Republicans in Lansing would have used a $200 million donation from a Detroit area philanthropist to build 15 charter schools and give back some of the state's control of Detroit public schools to the city, Local 4 reported.

This overwhelming response by teachers and parents in Detroit to the proposal forced Kilpatrick to pull out of the deal and forced public schools to close Thursday for the rally.

Teacher Stephanie Cobb tapped into the emotion of the crowd.

"I believe that Detroit Public Schools are successful. I don't believe that charter schools will answer the problem," Cobb said. "Lets bring a diverse group of people together -- talented, knowledgeable -- and solve the problems in Detroit."

David Hecker, the president of the Michigan Federation of Teachers, said that although children would be missing school on Thursday, a valuable lesson could be learned from the day's events.

"Even though they had to cancel school today, there are various venues to educate children," Hecker said. "These people do a great job in the classroom. The steps of the state Capitol in Lansing is another venue from which to educate our children."

The large protest has reportedly caused a political upheaval, causing Kilpatrick to pull out of the deal and Granholm to say that it was the mayor's issue to solve, Local 4 reported.

GOP Chairwoman Betsy DeVos says that the governor is a leader not worthy of the public trust and, that in her words, is no good, according to the station's reports.

The ongoing protest has apparently divided republicans and democrats in Lansing.

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