If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If the goal is truly to fix public education in Chicago, would there be a need for marketing lessons for CPS bureaucrats? If during moments of honesty, managers talk about "blowing up" and "dismantling" a district, having a detailed script may be necessary.
If the proficiency gap between Detroit's children and the Michigan average is any indication, our children have only fallen further behind these past four years.
Liberal arguments for Emergency Managers are not based on any real principle. They're little more than concessions to present state and national political trends, where austerity rules and Wall Street always wins
Detroit has seen its better days, but the latest national trending news is the most disheartening story that anybody could tell.
Without a doubt we need the support and accountability that a State of Michigan partnership offers. We cannot address our legacy obligations alone. And, as Detroit goes, so goes Michigan.
Crime continues to be Detroit's number one issue. It is on the mind of every citizen. We will not thrive until the perception of Detroit is changed to that of a safe city through reducing the number of crime victims.
The question is whether our generation will carry the 20th century's hard-earned progress around environmental, labor and civil protections forward or betray it out of the short-sighted greed, insecurity and historical amnesia.
Detroit is known as the nation's manufacturing capital for good reason: it still has the facilities, the firms, the research institutions, the workforce, and -- of course -- the grit to justify the title. The right kind of assistance could get Motor City rolling again.
As Detroit nears the possible appointment of an emergency financial manager, it's important to note that although the current pace of change is not as rapid as necessary to extinguish this fiscal crisis, we have made progress since 2009.
I will not waver in an effort to join with my council colleagues and Mayor Bing to make the necessary bold financial reforms. If we don't move swiftly, the certainty is an emergency financial manager will take even bolder action on behalf of Detroiters.
Detroit is suffering at the hands of a group with no frame of reference on how government is supposed to operate.
Having the state live up to its legally binding obligations to the city is worth fighting for. That is especially so when the alternative amounts to a complete abandonment of every principle that has made our society worth living in.
Detroit continues to face a fiscal crisis. However, the issue to address crime in the neighborhoods is not about resources; it's about managing the resources. The crime affecting our neighborhoods is fixable.
This year in the name of financial stability, the citizens of the city of Detroit will be disenfranchised. Democracy will be sacrificed at the altar of economic efficiency.
"Taxation without representation." It's an idea our nation was founded to oppose. Yet, right here in Detroit in 2012, it's a threat that's all too real.
We need to encourage the mayor and the council to insist on their authority to make decisions. If the state is unwilling to protect the elected officials, we encourage the city to declare bankruptcy.
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