A new report describes Detroit Public Schools' financial crisis in a series of appalling numbers. The district has $3.5 billion in total debt: $1.9 billion in legacy costs and short-term debt and almost $1.7 billion for bonds and capital improvements. The district’s accumulated deficit has soared to $215 million. It's behind on payments to its pension fund. And it may run out of cash by April.
The report, released this week by the nonpartisan research group Citizens Research Council, is the most dismal assessment yet of the district's financial circumstances. And that's saying something.
Yet Lansing seems no closer to a solution for DPS than it ever has been.
Last year, Gov. Rick Snyder, who has appointed or re-appointed four emergency managers to lead the district during his five years in office, said he was committed to finding a long-term solution. Last fall, he unveiled a plan to split the district in two: DPS would exist only to collect the district's operating millage and pay its debt, while a new entity would receive the state's per-pupil allowance and educate children.
No bills have been introduced in the state Legislature; no detailed plans have been released.
David Murray, a spokesman for Snyder, noted that recent reports highlight the "urgency" of DPS' situation, and said the governor's office expects action "soon," and that "good discussions" will ensue.
Those terms don't strike us as conveying a sense of urgency — not the kind DPS' problems merit.
What's particularly noxious is that while DPS languishes, Lansing lawmakers have prioritized other, far less-pressing matters: eliminating straight-ticket voting, a purely partisan move, barring school districts from distributing factual information about millage votes within 60 days of an election, and effectively doubling the amount of contributions allowable to political campaigns. It's a stunning misunderstanding of the state's most pressing needs
.
We have concerns about the outlines of Snyder's proposed plan — it's not clear whether the old district/new district split would free sufficient funds to satisfy the district's debt, including its pension liabilities — but it's the only plan lawmakers are even contemplating.
But it is not without hurdles to clear. In order for the new district to be viable, Snyder must convince lawmakers to free up more money for DPS, to replace revenue generated by the operating millage. Initially, the governor's team had signaled that money would come at the expense of other districts across the state; more recently, he's said that money for DPS need not impact other districts. That's welcome news, and should provide inducement for outstate or suburban lawmakers to support DPS reforms.
And then there's this: Much of DPS' debt was incurred during the district's 15 years (and counting) under state oversight. That places the moral obligation to cover district debt firmly in the state's hands — and legally, because the state stood surety for much of that borrowing.
The state's largest public school district, the system we're relying on to educate 47,000 children, is floundering. We knew this. Now it is nearly out of cash. The state is legally and morally obligated to pick up this burden. And time is running out.
So what's the holdup?
Flint Wants Safe Water, and Someone to Answer for Its Crisis
FLINT,
Mich. — A caravan of Genesee County sheriff’s office cruisers snaked
its way through the streets here on Thursday, doling out water filters
and jugs of water to frustrated and terrified residents who have been
trying to cope for more than a year with the public health crisis that
has been flowing out of their taps.
Shortly after officials switched the source of their drinking water
to the Flint River from Lake Huron in April 2014 to save money,
residents started complaining that their tap water looked strange,
tasted bad and caused rashes. But not until the fall of 2015, when the water was found to have elevated levels of lead that were reflected in children’s blood, did state officials swing into action.
Now
they are scrambling to address a situation that has endangered the
health of Flint’s children and generated untold costs and anxiety.
“It’s
ridiculous we have to live in such a way,” said Colette Brown, a Flint
native who months ago stopped drinking tap water. She said the filter at
her home needed a replacement cartridge.
“Put yourself in our shoes,” she said. “It’s hurting kids, the elderly. It’s hurting all of us.”
And
there was plenty of blame to go around, she added. “It’s almost like a
stepladder — you start from the top and you go all the way down to the
bottom,” she said.
Switching
the source of drinking water was meant to relieve some of the financial
pressures on this struggling city. Flint has high rates of gun violence
and crumbling infrastructure. And as manufacturing jobs have moved
overseas, the population has steadily dropped to fewer than 100,000 —
more than 40 percent of whom live below the poverty line.
But
it was not long before some in Flint were pointing out the nasty color
and odor of what was coming out of their taps, and digging into their
wallets to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking, and baby wipes
for bathing.
State and city leaders had largely dismissed residents’ complaints for months, assuring them that the water was safe
and being tested regularly. With the emergence of the blood level data,
officials began advising residents not to drink unfiltered tap water — a
recommendation that remains in effect.
In October, Gov. Rick Snyder helped orchestrate a switch back to Lake Huron water.
Though Mayor Karen Weaver called that a positive step, she said the
change did not undo corrosion damage from the river water that caused
pipes to leach lead.
As
of last month, the state had identified 43 people with elevated lead
levels in their blood. Lead is toxic, and can cause stunted development
in children.
Last month, the governor apologized to residents. On Tuesday he declared the city to be in a state of emergency
— the same day that federal officials said they had opened an
investigation into the water contamination. And in October, Mr. Snyder announced a state plan to distribute free water filters and provide water testing to residents. But many residents remain unsatisfied.
“Their
one job was to make sure our water was safe,” Melissa Mays, a Flint
resident, said of Michigan environmental officials. Ms. Mays, who has
helped organize protests and been among the most outspoken critics of
the water situation, said she worried about how the water might be
affecting her young sons’ health.
“They cut every corner,” she said. “They did more to cover up than actually fix it. That’s criminal.”
In
a scathing initial report last month, a task force appointed by Mr.
Snyder found that the State Department of Environmental Quality’s
response to health concerns “was often one of aggressive dismissal,
belittlement and attempts to discredit these efforts and the individuals
involved.” That approach, the report added, was “completely
unacceptable.”
After the letter was released, Mr. Snyder, a Republican and former businessman who took office in 2011, apologized and announced the resignation of the director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
On
Thursday, after he met with Ms. Weaver, Mr. Snyder told reporters that
he would work to provide “a broad-based suite of services” to address
the water issues and other problems in Flint. Among the services could
be more water testing, more filters, and health care and education
support for those affected. Many residents have called for state money
to replace the city’s old pipe infrastructure — which the mayor has said
could cost up to $1.5 billion — and a fund to address any developmental
impact on children.
“You have to earn trust,” Mr. Snyder said. “This will be a process by showing the steps we’re taking to be proactive.”
Many residents are reserving judgment. Researchers at Virginia Tech who detected
the lead contamination last year released state employee emails
obtained through a public records request. In a message in July, the
governor’s chief of staff at the time, Dennis Muchmore, wrote that he
was “frustrated by the water issue in Flint” and that “folks are scared
and worried about the health impacts and they are basically getting
blown off by us.”
In response, a state health official assured Mr. Muchmore that there was no evidence of increased lead poisoning, a finding later called into question.
A
spokesman for Mr. Snyder said the message indicated that the governor’s
staff members were engaged and seeking answers on behalf of worried
community members.
Some
residents are quick to point out that it was an emergency manager
appointed by the governor who approved the 2014 switch away from Lake
Huron water to save money.
Wantwaz Davis, a member of Flint’s City Council, said the emergency manager “created this problem.”
“What
the governor should do is become fully accountable to this problem and
give us the finances that we need to rectify the problem,” Mr. Davis
said.
Some
efforts already underway have added to residents’ frustrations. At City
Hall on Thursday, where signs advertise free water filters, Quintina
Swanson stopped by to pick up a replacement cartridge. But Ms. Swanson,
25, was told that the model she needed was out of stock, and that she
would need to return later or go to a different distribution site.
Sheriff
Robert J. Pickell of Genesee County, who organized the door-to-door
water filter distribution, said traveling to another site was not always
possible in a place like Flint. “People over in Lansing, they forget
how the poor folks live,” Sheriff Pickell said, referring to the state
capital. “They say they’re going to have a distribution center. They
forget that not everybody has a car.”
Still,
residents said they were grateful that state officials and federal
investigators were now engaged. Ms. Weaver, a clinical psychologist
elected last year largely on a promise to improve the water, praised Mr.
Snyder for his emergency declaration, even as she cautioned that major
commitments of time and money would be needed.
“It
does let us know that our voice is being heard,” Ms. Weaver said. “And
for such a long time, the residents of the city said, ‘We do not have a
voice.’
For more news from across the country, follow us on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment