Students of Cass Technical High School in Detroit left the classrooms today at noon to protest the conditions of their school and others schools of the Detroit Public Schools System (DPS). They marched down Second Avenue chanting and holding signs with demands about their education.
Cass Tech English teacher Vicki Hooks Green posted on her Facebook, “At the stroke of 12, hundreds of kids got up and walked out. I was left with an empty classroom where just a few minutes before were a bunch of seniors.”
Students walk out of class at Detroit’s Cass Technical High School. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Richard T. James, Jr. of Talsons Photography)
The Detroit News reported that when Senior Natalya Henderson spoke during the protest she stated the walkout had no affiliation with the activist group called, By Any Means Necessary. She also stated it had no affiliation with Steve Conn, who was ousted as The Detroit Federation of Teacher Union President.
“This is about the students,” Henderson said. “We matter. We are the future.”
This action is similar to the action taken by many DPS teachers who have shut down some schools with “sick-outs”. Teacher sick-outs resulted in DPS heading to court to file an injunction and lawsuit, which names 28 defendants. According to WWJ Newsradio 950 Reporter Vickie Thomas, the attorney for the Detroit teachers union stated, “Teachers union defendants are cancer patients, one on approved workers comp & one on approved FMLA [Family Medical Leave Act] leave.”
Many DPS teachers wore red in solidarity supporting the 28 defendants.
Cass Tech teachers wearing red in support of the 28 defendants of a DPS lawsuit. (Photo courtesy of Lauralyn Welland Taylor)
On same day Cass Tech students walked out of class, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Cynthia Stephens also denied Detroit Public School’s request for a temporary restraining order against teachers who participated in the sick-outs. Judge Stephens stated more evidence was needed to prove that the union, the Detroit Federation of Teachers, or individual activists organized the sick-outs. Another hearing has been set for Feb. 16.
Since Michigan is a Right-to-Work state, the DPS employees do not have the right to strike. However, it is not only Cass Tech students and parents who are demanding their education. Another DPS school, Renaissance High School, has joined in as well.
One Renaissance High School student penned a letter stating, “Legislators, the Emergency Manager and others have said that teachers are hindering our education by doing these sickouts. But the reality is that none of you live in Detroit, and none of you have children who go to a DPS school.”
She continued saying, “None of you have to come to school every day and share books (if we even have books), or be in the middle of doing work and the lights cut off. None of you have to worry about your safety every day of your life, or walk pass mushrooms growing in the hallway. None of you have to skip lunch every day because the food is moldy, and the milk is old. None of you experience what we experience, and until you have, you have no right to speak on anything happening in our district.”
Lastly, the Renaissance sophomore stated, “Our teachers are doing what is best for us, and my education is not being hindered anymore than it was when I went a whole semester without a French or English teacher.”
Looking at the national climate of education, many might ask: Why are the actions of DPS teachers and Cass Tech students so important? The actions of these teachers and students are so important, because they embody the spirit of those who fought to desegregate the American school system and the mission of RIZZARR.
With their bold actions and their taking a stand against what they perceive as an injustice, these students (regardless of their ages or circumstances) believed that they could make an impact. This is the same spirit that embodied Ruby Bridges in New Orleans when she was the only Black student to integrate William Frantz Elementary School. It was the same spirit that embodied Thurgood Marshall as he argued in the Supreme Court during the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. It was the same spirit embodied by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, and many others. Each of these people made an impact on the fabric of American society. It’s possible that these teachers and students could have the similar impact on American society.
The teachers and students are highlighting issues in American education that have lingered since the 1800s, when “common schools” were established.
When the American education system was created, there was a divide between the “rich” and the “poor”. Usually rich families sent their children to private schools or schools affiliated with a church. Poor families relied on “vouchers” to send their children to private schools or they attended common schools.
And today, the same issues that teachers in DPS and students have spoken about or protested about in former years still remain the same today: large class sizes, insufficient textbooks, and substandard edifices. For example, the city of Detroit began inspecting DPS buildings on Jan. 12 at Spain Elementary/Middle School and found several building violations that must be brought up to code by Feb. 16, according to the Detroit News.
The inspections of DPS schools come after Mayor Duggan toured several schools. The Detroit News reports Mayor Duggan will seek immediate solutions for the building problems.
The Detroit News further reported all 97 of the district’s school buildings will be inspected by the end of April. Violations include: lack of heat, mold growth, rodents, caved in ceilings, defective electrical service, water damage, and many others. The reports can be found here.
DPS teachers and students could help change the landscape of education in America. When speaking to the Detroit News earlier today, one Cass Tech Senior stated, “We are speaking for students who cannot speak for themselves like the elementary and middle school students. We are all their voices. We are one.”
But these issues aren’t unique to Detroit or even Michigan. These are issues are also occurring all over the United States. The Detroit students, these teachers, and parents even said they were not just speaking for elementary and middle school students, but also for students around the country. The Washington Post recently published an article discussing the nation-wide teacher shortage. Detroit Public Schools’ website even has a banner which state there are approximately 200 vacancies in the district.
Earlier, Green detailed on her Facebook page, just how much instruction time students were missing when a class did not have a certified teacher. Green found that about 17,000 hours of instruction would be missed with one teacher vacancy.
Governor Rick Snyder and Mayor Mike Duggan have proposed plans to help eliminate the debt of Detroit Public Schools (which totals around $515 million) and to help improve the conditions of the schools. However, lawmakers seem unable to come to an agreement on how best to eliminate the debt.
If the state and local government can take the concerns of the teachers and students into consideration when drafting legislation to solve the problems in DPS, then once again, Detroit could become a national example of education.
In full disclosure, Corinne Lyons is an alumnae of DPS and Cass Tech.
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