DETROIT – Lately when we hear about Detroit Public Schools, it has to do with the bribery scandal involving vendors and administrators.
Those stories certainly don't generate support for Detroit's education around the state.
But Local 4's Carmen Harlan graduated from Detroit Public Schools, and so did today's interim Superintendent Alycia Meriweather.
Watch: Meriweather meets with Carmen Harlan to talk goals
Today's headlines are impossible to ignore. That coupled with years of teacher frustration, certainly helps to put a negative spin on the state's largest public education system, DPS. Not shying away from the ugliness of bribery scandals or teacher sick-outs, the new interim superintendent said everything needs to be exposed.
Rebuilding trust in the school system is her first priority. Without that, her plan or anyone's won't succeed. Teachers need to be heard.
There are no easy answers or quick fixes, but getting started is fueling the passion in Meriweather. She takes her inspiration from an unlikely place most would find insurmountable. Like most educators, all it took was a piece of chalk and Local 4 News was given a look at the target areas she outlined for immediate attention.
As Harlan and Meriweather walked the halls of Bagley Elementary School, meeting students and teachers, and reminiscing about the education they both received in DPS, not a whole lot has changed.
But it becomes very clear that for this city to truly come back, a quality public education system is a critical part of the equation. And no one understands that better than Detroit's own interim superintendent.