Detroit schools reopen after teachers stage massive two-day 'sickout'

Labour union leaders received assurance of pay from the city emergency manager

Feliks Garcia
New York
Wednesday 04 May 2016 14:19 BST
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Interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers leads a protest outside school district headquarters <em>AP</em>
Interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers leads a protest outside school district headquarters AP

Detroit teachers are returning to work following two days of a massive ‘sickout’ over pay that closed more than 90 of the city’s schools.

Leaders of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) urged teachers to return to work in a Tuesday night meeting, after interim president Ivy Bailey received a letter assurance from state-appointed emergency manager, Judge Steven Rhodes, that teachers would be paid for their work.

“We've been working 24/7 to secure the assurance that educators will be fully paid for the school year, so they can go back to the classroom and do what they love to do—teach their students,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten told The Independent in a statement. “It is a fundamental right to be paid for the work one does. Anything other than that is dead wrong and tantamount to wage theft.”

Detroit Public Schools (DPS) announced that the 94 closed schools were expected to reopen in a Facebook post late Tuesday evening.

The DFT called for the sickout after receiving word that the DPS lacked funding to pay teachers beyond 30 June. This meant the two-thirds of the district’s 3,800 teachers who opted for a 26-week pay cycle - so that they are paid through the summer months - would not have received already-earned payment despite $48.7m the state allocated to the district.

“It's astonishing that teachers and other school employees have been working diligently to educate our kids in under-resourced schools with deplorable conditions, yet they had to fight to get what they're due. That's adding insult to injury,” Ms Bailey said. “We're happy to return to the classroom and finish the school year with our kids.”

DPS is still waiting on state representatives to pass a $715m education reform package that would save summer school and special education services beyond 30 June.

“At the very least, teachers must be paid for the work they do,” Ms Weingarten said. “Real appreciation would be to fully fund Detroit Public Schools, return the schools to local control, provide a process for accountability and transparency, and start the new school year with the resources and supports needed to help all kids succeed.”

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