Sorry I'm so late getting you this piece:
"For children of bankrupt Detroit, world of challenges outside school" by David Crary | Associated Press March 23, 2014
DETROIT — A city in the throes of the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history, where teachers and parents are fighting to do right by the children, and many believe Detroit is finally on the rise after hitting bottom. Yet they worry about the toll of growing up amid danger, dysfunction, and the blight epitomized by tens of thousands of abandoned homes....
Can we not send them to wars based on lies please?
Like most schools in Detroit, Ben Carson has an overwhelmingly African-American student body. More than 80 percent come from low-income families — not surprising in a city where the child poverty rate of 57 percent is triple the national figure.
‘‘They need our arms wrapped around them,’’ said the principal, Brenda Belcher. ‘‘It’s important to create a culture and climate to support them.’’
Not tough love?
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Detroit’s bankruptcy doesn’t directly affect the public school system, which has separate revenues and governance. But the DPS deficit is $94 million, and is projected to reach $120 million later this year.
While DPS schools have improved their performance on state-run standardized tests, their showing on the National Assessment of Educational Progress remains abysmal.
In 2013, DPS schools ranked the worst among 21 major cities in the performance of 4th and 8th graders on math and reading tests.
The environment outside schools can be menacing....
As municipal services for families and children withered, a host of community associations, volunteer groups, and nonprofits have sought to fill the void.
I'm re$igned to being cared for by our corporate overlords, aren't you?
They need more dough? Fine, have it.
‘‘Detroiters are really clear that they can’t be passive residents anymore,’’ said Sharnita Johnson, a Detroit native who helps oversee the Kellogg Foundation’s grants to neighborhood and youth programs.
‘‘The cavalry is not coming in to help.’’
No federal bailout. Detroit not a bank.
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I'm told a 16-year-old junior is aspiring to a military career.
Also see: Same-sex marriage in Mich. suspended by appeals court
The issue gets too much print as it is, for the jusual reasons.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Mich. won’t recognize first wave of gay marriages
Biden presses gay rights in workplace
No one is denying anyone the choice of whom to love, Joe. Stop distorting the issue!
Sorry to be so miserable about such things.
