While the good news is that education reformers are putting up for discussion the question of whether "old school" boundaries still work in this day and age, the bad news is that governance reform alone is not the answer.
Society's best equipment to adapt to the rapid changes of modern society are the youth themselves. Any initiative keeping them grounded in community-based social justice frameworks has the vision for a positive future.
The Class of 2012 at Detroit Cristo Rey High School took a risk by signing up for a Catholic, college-preparatory school that had not even opened, they worked harder than they had before, and 100 percent have been accepted into college.
Hundreds of creative and amazing pieces of art by Detroit Public Schools students will be shown in the 75th annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts beginning Saturday.
We have to band together to not only protect each other, but to provide for each other, share with each other, feed each other, care for each other and more importantly love each other in these tough times, Detroit.
Since joining the DPS family, I've come in contact with numerous awe-inspiring schools. For the people who are unaware of these programs, I can't help but wonder if they've seen what I've seen.
Whether their school is run by DPS, the EAA or one of the new charter conversions, it is imperative that all public school students in Detroit be provided with the best possible opportunity to learn.
Detroit Public School expanded citizens' patrols and also issued a call for additional volunteers this year. That, plus a multi-agency effort, resulted in safer schools and safer routes to school.
I believe that as emergency manager, I can be most effective if I communicate frankly with all District stakeholders. I have a controlled "open door" policy.
Gov. Snyder should be applauded for the crime response efforts in his "smart justice" initiative; however, it fails to commit enough resources toward referring troubled youth to preventive and therapeutic resources.
We didn't fight for our rights, as Americans or as working people, only to surrender them to a governor who is cavalierly defying the will of the people. And we will not rest until full democracy is restored to the people of Michigan.
In Michigan's largest city, 67 percent of children live in poverty. How can they not? Unemployment in Detroit is thought to be close to 50 percent by the city's mayor.
It would be tempting to blog about DPS' commitment to improve east side neighborhoods through the new East English Village Prep. Academy. But my attention turned to a speaker, a Morningside resident who has lived in her Habitat home since 2009.
A snobberie, a soire, a sassy fashion gathering, a sip, a shop and a salute -- all of this, as well as a whole lot of poetry, will be going on Thursday, Feb. 23 in Rachel Lutz's remarkable Peacock Room in Detroit's Park Shelton Hotel.
I am an unapologetic optimist, not because I see the world through rose-colored glasses or have Pollyannaish sensibilities, it's because I have been a student of DreamMakers all my life -- my parents.
As citizen oversight diminishes, the power of the state increases, enforcing compliance with deadening systems designed to demand obedience and control.