After two weeks on the picket line, striking Detroit teachers are standing firm in the face of threats from the school administration and the courts. The teachers, already among the lowest paid in Michigan, are refusing to accept $88 million in wage and benefit cuts. This is part of a $115 million package the district is demanding from all unions.
In a show of unity and determination, thousands of teachers rallied Friday, Sept. 8 in downtown Detroit, chanting “No
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After a failed attempt by school administrators to start classes without teachers, all 225 schools are closed indefinitely. Tuesday, Sept. 5 was supposed to be first day of classes for the district’s roughly 130,000 students, and administration officials had vowed to replace the 7,000 teachers with 250 administrators and other non-unionized staff.
Although only 20 percent of students showed up, the unprepared administrators were overwhelmed. They cut classes down to a half-day, sent many students home early and held large groups of students in gyms and lunchrooms.
Many parents are sympathetic with the teachers and will not send their children back until the strike ends. “They have to provide for their families,” said Diane Madlock, whose son Jonathan is starting seventh grade. “They can’t do that if their salaries are continually being cut.” (AP, Sept. 6)
Last year, in an attempt to help the district balance its budget, teachers loaned the district five days of pay, which amounted to $64 million in lost wages. At the same time, district administrators were receiving pay raises of up to 10.6 percent. Now the district wants massive take-backs, amounting to nearly $10,000 per teacher. These include a 5.5 percent wage cut, increases in healthcare co-pays of up to 20 percent, and reduction in sick days, preparation time and teacher bonuses.
“The price of everything is going up, except our pay,” said teacher Carmille Price. “Now I’m looking for a second job, and if we have to take more cuts, it would be even worse.” (Detroit Free Press, Sept. 5)
Striking workers defy court injunction
On Friday, Sept. 8, Wayne Country circuit judge Susan Borman issued an injunction ordering the teachers back to work. But the teachers vowed to keep striking. On Monday, Sept. 11, thousands of teachers walked picket lines and stayed away from work. Detroit teachers previously have defied back-to-work orders in 1973 and 1992.
In arguing for the injunction, the school district claimed it has a $105 million budget deficit, although school officials were forced to admit that those figures did not include millions in revenue from the state and federal governments and savings from school building sales and leases. The district has grossly mismanaged funds for years and has neglected to enact cost-saving measures.
The district also claims the teachers’ strike could lead many students to enroll in charter schools and other school districts—a claim that has been repeated endlessly by Detroit’s two major newspapers, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. But statisticians have examined the district’s enrollment figures following previous strikes and project that the strike will not affect student enrollment.
Democratic and Republican politicians in Michigan have also attacked the striking teachers. State attorney general Mike Cox, a Republican, has threatened to fine the teachers and their union. Democrats Dennis Archer and Kwame Kilpatrick, the former and current Detroit mayors, have echoed the school district’s attempts to scapegoat the teachers.
Facing enormous pressures, the Detroit teachers are waging a unified and inspiring struggle for fair pay and against attacks on quality public education.
Click here to read additional PSLweb.org coverage of the strike.
