Editorial

'Level' Playing Field for Detroit Charter Schools?

'You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means'

Detroit Mayor Michael Duggan has lobbied to be the person who appoints members to a controversial entity called the Detroit Education Commission. In slightly different forms this entity has appeared in a number of proposals to prop up the status quo Detroit school district. In a Detroit Public Schools bailout bill passed by the Michigan Senate last month, the commission would be able to ration charter schools in a manner that protects DPS schools from competition.

Duggan released a statement saying he wants to create a “level playing field” between charters and public schools.

ForTheRecord says: In 2014, a resolution passed by the City Council and approved by Mayor Duggan imposed a five-year ban on the city selling any closed DPS school to a charter school located within a mile of an open district school. If that’s how the city defines “level playing field,” then supporters of school choice for Detroit children (including Detroit parents) should be concerned.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.