Detroit Public Schools: Our Kids Deserve Better

Some 88 out of 97 schools in Detroit closed recently after teachers called in sick in protest of rodent and mold problems. There are complaints of an odious smell of mold and mildew that hits you like a ton of bricks when you step through the front doors at Spain Elementary-Middle School in Detroit. Once a school any city would be proud to have in its district. Today, it’s the poster child for neglect and indifference to a quality teaching and learning environment for some 500 students.

The gym is closed because half of the floor is buckled and the other half suffered so much rainwater damage from the dripping ceiling that it became covered with toxic black mold. Instead of professionally addressing the problem, a black tarp simply was placed over the entire area. That area of the school has since been condemned.

The once beautiful pool sits empty because no one has come to fix it. The playground is off-limits because a geyser of searing hot steam explodes out of the ground.

Exposed wires hang from missing ceiling tiles. Watermarks from leaks abound. Kids either sit in freezing classrooms with their coats on or strip off layers because of stifling heat.

Complaints to Darnell Earley, the emergency manager over the Detroit Public Schools have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.