DETROIT – Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD) wants voters to approve Proposal S for its students.
According to the district the funding for the school would go directly to teacher salaries, textbooks, student programming, mental health support and keeping school doors open.
Proposal S would approve a 18-mill operating millage, meaning the proposal would approve a property tax for commercial, rental or vacation properties to go directly toward local schools.
This tax isn’t new, according to the DPSCD the tax is already being collected, but going to the wrong place, Detroit Public Schools (DPS).
In 2016, DPS was drowning in debt after mismanagement. In response Lansing lawmakers created DPSCD, a new district, to run Detroit schools debt free.
DPS stayed alive, but not for students. The district only collected taxes to pay off old debt. During this time the state covered costs for DPSCD.
Now that DPS has paid most of it’s debt the state will stop paying for DPSCD, meaning DPSCD could lose $124 million in funding.
Proposal S would move the money already taxing Detroiters from paying DPS debt toward the students of DPSCD schools.
DPSCD Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti joined Local 4 Live to talk about why the schools need the funding from Proposal S.
You can watch the full interview in the video at the beginning of this article.