the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jan 18, 2016
“Emergency Financial Managers” have plunged Detroit Public Schools into debt. In 1999, when the state first took over the district, the district’s budget had a 93 million dollar surplus. Now, the most recent fiscal year ran a deficit of nearly 216 million dollars. The overall debt is more than 3.5 billion dollars!
And the loans themselves carry crippling interest rates, ensuring that this debt will only continue to explode.
It’s obvious where the cause of the DPS resource drain lies. Money isn’t going to teachers or to schools or students–but to crazy debt to the banks.
The series of emergency managers has served up a series of gifts to the banks, siphoning more and more public money into their hands. At the same time, that growing debt has been used as an excuse to close schools–and hand them to private charter operations. Meaning even more public funds go into private hands.
The whole state take-over process has been a way to dismantle the school district and give its resources as a gift to financial interests.
Last month, the “Emergency Financial Manager” announced that 41 cents of every DPS funding dollar goes to service on the debts–and that if “something isn’t done,” the district would run out of money by April.
That something, politicians suggested, was MORE cuts, so the banks could be paid.
NO! Wipe out the debt completely, and give the Detroit Public Schools a clean slate going forward! Stop the drainage of public funds! Let the banks pay for the crisis they’re CONTINUING to cause!