A Drastic Cut for Detroit Schools

摘要

It says a lot about a plan when its author declares that it won't work. In January, Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager of Detroit's ailing public schools, met his legal obligation to submit a blueprint to balance the system's budget. His proposal: shutter 70 of the Motor City's 142 public schools and consolidate services to erase a $327 million deficit by 2014. The plan has obvious problems. State aid, which is doled out on a per-student basis, would plummet. The average high school class size would spike to more than 60.