BOOST THIS! ALIGNMENT to a HIGHER PURPOSE GROWS! (STUDENT-CENTRIC SUCCESS)

Robert Bobb: Schools should lead rebirth of Detroit; Mayor Bing should lead schools

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 08:25 AM PDT
Visit http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/03/robert_bobb_schools_should_lea.html to listent to the full interview.

By Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com
March 31, 2010, 11:52AM

Robert Bobb believes the City of Detroit cannot solve its problems without the Detroit Public Schools system doing the same, and he thinks Mayor Dave Bing can lead both efforts.

“We’re talking about the rebirth of the City of Detroit,” Bobb, the state-appointed emergency financial manager for the district, told Frank Beckmann this morning on WJR AM-760. “The rebirth of the City of Detroit will never be successful if Detroit Public Schools is not leading.”

While Bobb advocates mayoral control for the district, he told Beckmann it’s important the public approve such a move in order to avoid the type of frustration many have voiced about his own appointment.

“Let’s take it to the voters, make your case, and show them the advantages of having one person” in control, he said, citing the efforts of Excellent Schools Detroit to spur grassroots support for a ballot initiative.

However, Bobb was against mayoral control before he was for it, explaining that he fought a similar effort in 2006 as President of the Washington D.C. School Board. “I fought against it in D.C., but for the reason that the citizens didn’t get a chance to vote on the issue,” he said. “It wasn’t an issue on the campaign either.”

If voters reject mayor control, Bobb suggested a far more radical scenario. “The other option, given where we are, would be federal receivership over the Detroit Public Schools,” he said.

Since his appointment a year ago, Bobb aggressively targeted waste and unnecessary spending, but he said last month the district is “still under water” and acknowledges the deficit has actually grown under his watch to a projected $317 million.

“We’ve grown our deficit only because we wanted to do more for kids in the classroom,” he said.

Other highlights of the interview:

On corruption: The Detroit Free Press reported this weekend on Stephen Hill, a former DPS department chief who allegedly scammed the district by diverting more than $57 million in school funds to vedors who did little in return. Bobb cited the case as yet another example of corruption previously allowed to run rampant in the district. “I’ve managed cities — large cities — but the level and cesspools of corruption is almost a lifestyle for some individuals in Detroit and in the Detroit Public Schools.” Bobb also said additional indictments related to theft and corruption should be coming in the next couple of weeks.

Olive branch to the Board of Education: Bobb this week sent a letter to School Board President Otis Mathis this week in an attempt to end a hard-fought battle over academic control, saying he’d meet regularly with the board and asking Mathis to drop the lawsuit the board filed against him last year. While the letter was a nice gesture, Bobb warned he’s not going to roll over. “If you want to fight, I’ll fight,” he said of the board. “I don’t want anyone to be mistaken in that regard. But by the end of the day, it’s all about the kids. We have to have a very strong academic program.”